Moonchild Live at The Fonda

As the doors opened to The Fonda Theater for Moonchild there was a visible optimistic anticipation plastered on the faces of the crowd. I can’t think of a show that I’ve been to lately that had the type of wall to wall easy going energy paired with unashamed excitement that feels so rare in the Los Angeles music scene. This environment wouldn’t be a surprise to someone who’s familiar the way their cozy, neo-soul discography makes you feel.

They started the set with “What You Wanted” and you could feel the audience and singer, Amber Navran, begin to sync from the first line. Her delivery throughout the entire show came across as so effortless but so skilled all while conveying so much joy in her performance. The whole band had a cohesion about them that is essential for the overlap of jazz, soul, and hip hop they find themselves making.

Every member of Moonchild is a multiinstrumentalist and they are frustratingly good at pulling it off. I’ve seen a lot of shows where members of the band play a game of literal musical chairs on stage in an attempt to impress and show off their musical chops. It can often come off as gimmicky and really only adds a few moments of dead time in the set for you to watch the awkward dodging of cables and straps that's happening on stage. Moonchild though didn’t have a single misstep in their extensive changes.

By the third song, “Too Good” member Andris Mattson had played a new instrument every track. What this constant changing pulled off was an expansion of their already lush sound while maintaining the intimacy of their performance chemistry.. No one steps on each other's toes in this group to stand apart from the rest and it serves the tracks and vibe of their music so incredibly well. They incorporate so much in their music that I’ve seen other groups run into the ground but they have such a tasteful restraint with all of it from the solos, vocal runs from Amber, and instrument swaps. It’s all done to the point of leaving you just wanting a little bit more.

The musical standout of the night was a medley of songs from their album Voyager. It was exciting to see them take their most popular tracks and put them in a new context and a creative way to handle the placement of their hits within the setlist. The blending of these songs along with the audience's reaction and participation was pure stress relief.

All of these technical skills aside, the ability the members of Moonchild have to create a connection between themselves and the audience might be their most impressive quality. There were many looks from the band thrown out at various audience members that were met with cheers and vocalized back and forths. There was an immediate familiarity between the pack of people standing in the theater due to the band members' personability, even having never seen them live before it felt like everyone else and I were there to see a group of our good friends perform.

What the group made clear outside of their music was that they wanted to leave you with the urge to give back to communities that have been historically oppressed. This band is a huge proponent of lifting marginalized voices and offering them a platform through their following and devoted a large amount of time to expressing that. Several breaks between songs were punctuated with calls to action and roads to follow if you had the means to assist. The band invited a speaker from The Pukúu Cultural Community Services to speak about their organization and the services they offer to indigineous community members prior to the set.

What all of this did was set an intention before the music began and centered the audience around the same thoughts. As they navigated their music you felt the hopeful call to action that they put in your mind before the first note was played. You felt your shoulders relax and self get lighter as they gleamed with happiness and put themselves into every song. You felt what they were hoping to make you feel.