It’s not a Yungblud show without pink socks, flying beer, political commentary, and the Brit urging the crowd to “fookin jump.” The 25-year-old alternative punk, hip-hop artist opened the Jannus Live set last Tuesday with a black and white backdrop, urging the audience to open the pit. As Yungblud fans range from four-year-olds to 70-year-old heavy metal hounds, they did just that.
After a few seconds of replaying the open-the-pit line, he rushed the stage, bringing a barrel of endless energy for his first track, “superdeadfriends” a radical grunge rock anthem encouraging the youth to continue living despite backward politics and hatred permeating society.
To keep up the positivity, Yungblud launched into a single from last year, “The Funeral,” another tune capitalizing on the importance of being there for yourself in difficult times. Yungblud extended the mic out to the crowd several times during the show, testing how well the audience knew the lyrics. They didn’t disappoint.
Six-year-olds with pink Mohawks shrieked atop their parents’ shoulders, singing back his lyrics, 40-year-olds thrust their hands in the air to the beat, and the oldest fans peered over the balcony, smiling at the fact that Yungblud’s music merges those who normally would never be around each other.
He breezed through other tracks like “Tissues,” a love letter to The Cure, and “Die for the Hype,” a commentary on society’s ability to warp relevance in death. Despite the sweltering heat and horrid humidity, the crowd refused to let up energy, considering the singer bopped around the stage the entire night. Between songs, he’d take a few swigs of beer and chuck the half-full plastic cups into the audience, a staple at his shows.
Yungblud stands up for the people, meaning every race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, creed, etc., finds a home in his music. That’s what he’s always been about, and he refuses to conform to a clean-cut societal-approved image.
So, when he performed “Parents,”—one of his most streamed songs on Spotify, about undercutting those in positions of power who don’t accept this generation—enshrouded in a pride flag, the crowd cheered, waving their own pride flags.
Acapella rules live shows, and Yungblud showed off his vocal skills with a strong acapella run of his non-conformist chant “Fleabag.”
“I’m just a fleabag. Nobody loves me. Send me to rehab. Somebody touch me,” the chorus shouts.
Running off the anti-censorship high, Yungblud ditched the stage to jump on one of the bars on the side of the venue. The British icon stood tall atop the platform sporting bright pink socks (a trademark of his and a reference to northern England’s Northern Soul Movement), high-waisted trousers with a sewed-on “I’m a lowlife” badge, and a long sleeve tucked in black mesh and black tank. He shifted his presence from those who camped all day to get to barricade on center stage, to those who piled in when doors opened, for a continuation of “Fleabag.”
He leaned heavily on audience participation during this song, letting them carry the harmony while he gifted kisses and, of course, flying beers to those toward the back of the forum.
When returning to the main stage, he mentioned how he likes to switch up his shows to make everything “less corporate.” To do so, he invited two fans on stage, the first a woman who picked the next song. He gave her a choice of two tracks from his debut album, Twenty-First-Century Liability– “California” and “Medication.” The woman braced for the difficult decision, eventually choosing the more popular of the two, “California.”
The second guest Yungbluyd brought to the stage hugged the singer and thanked him endlessly for his music and for being a role model for the LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities. Yungblud hugged them back and playfully mocked them with an “Oh my god” gesture.
A heartwarming, solemn moment ensued near the last few tracks of the short set. Yungblud asked the audience if he could tap into the sad times with a song they hadn’t played in a bit, “Casual Sabotage.”
The chorus will rattle anyone paying attention, and he made sure by the end of the song, the crowd knew every word of the chorus, “I’m just a messed up kid with sewn-up lips. I can’t take this shit. I need to exist.”
As the best performers of this century do, they take time out of their sonic numbers to speak on issues prevailing throughout the world. Yungblud opened up about his struggles in school, with family, and in society and relayed those issues to the crowd, promising them the world is a harsh place, but there are people out there who make it worth it. He admitted the fact he gets to sing his heart out to thousands of “21st-Century Liabilities” and give “hope for the underrated youth” eradicates his fear of being himself in today’s society.
The diverse combo of toddlers, teenagers, and boomers applauded his speech and held on to each other for a final verse of “I’m just a messed up kid with sewn up lips, I can’t take this shit, I need to exist,” the final line reverberated through the venue, especially loud.
Dom donned a Jack Skellington hat for an encore set of his new song “Lowlife” and a single from 2019, “Loner.”
In a crowd full of every kind of person, “all my friends will desert again, and I don’t want to be a loner” hurt a little less.
