Welcome To The Mercurial World: Magdalena Bay Concert Review

Photo by Alexis Attard

This past Friday, October 8th, synth-pop duo Magdalena Bay threw a small concert to celebrate the release of their first-ever full-length album. Fans lined up around the block, eager to see what these two odd-ball visionaries would have in store. 

I had only been inside the venue for a few moments when, without warning, the house lights went completely black. I could hardly make out what was right in front of me because it was so dark. Then suddenly, I heard a faint click followed by the flickering sound of a projector. A wall on the far back of the stage lit up with the glow of a video loop of a webbed CGI skeleton of a pair of hands cupping a globe - a pair of hands holding what would become the mystical, neon world crafted by Mica Tanenbaum and Matthew Lewing: the masterminds behind Magdalena Bay.

“Hello”

A face appeared on the screen, replacing the webbed hands.

“Welcome...,” it announced, in its Siri-esque digitized voice, “... to the Magdalena Bay Mercurial World Experience.” 

Three, two, one ... lift-off! With a glitch and sputter, the face vanished from the screen and the stage lights blazed back to life, washing the crowd in bright blue and pink.  Magdalena Bay had just launched us into a new celestial realm: that of the Mercurial World. 

The stage was transformed into the environment of this Mercurial World. Neon lasers melted into the clouds puffed out by the smoke machine, creating swirling rivers of light. Retro-futurist furnishings, including a clear-inflatable bubble chair and a transparent light-up wire telephone, changed colors with the lights. Even Magdalena Bay themselves was attired to blend into their imaginary world. With their matching, skin-tight, white-spotted bodysuits, Lewing’s extra-terrestrial patterned pants and Tanenbaum’s Y2k pop-diva microphone headset, the band looked like aliens from the planet Zenon had come to Earth to spread their genre-bending synthpop music to mankind. 

They even included the occasional wacky yet poetic skit to make more pointed societal critiques as well as further build out their fictional world. Some of these included a fake call to an absent president asking for much-needed assistance, a mournful love song written for an AI entity named Chaeri, and the transformation and dehumanization of Tanenbaum into a bunny-masked Vocaloid.

Even if they hadn’t busted out all of the flashy effects and whimsical theatrics, Magdalena Bay’s music was enough to transform the atmosphere of the club. The band had such a unique blend of house dance beats, transcendental synth waves, soft yet powerful sirenic melodies, funk bass, and metal guitar that they made you feel like you had flown past the reach of all Earthly constraints. This was most noticeable when they performed songs like “Secrets (Your Fire)”, “Killshot”, and “You Lose!”. You felt as if you had been transported to their alien land. Each song took nostalgic elements of pop music past, channeling the auras of the disco era, the reign of Madonna, even bits and pieces of Daft Punk, on to 90’s hip hop, and reshaped the sound to blend in with their neo-futurist world. 

It took the sound guy a few minutes to fully adjust to Tanenbaum’s whispering vocals, leaving the first track or two somewhat empty. But once the correct volume was reached, the air of the club was painted silver by the sound of her voice. Her tone was reminiscent of the youthful squeal of Britney Spears, the airy whimsy of a Disney Princess, and the sensual fervor of Madonna. 

The band’s sound throughout the rest of the evening was all-encompassing and perfectly balanced. Tanenbaum’s delicate delivery combined with the high-frequencies fluent in her voice allowed the vocalist to powerfully soar over the wall of sound emanating from Lewing’s raging bass solos and the ever-present drum loops. Together, Tanenbaum and Lewing were angry, yet soft and merciful. They were mournful and solemn, yet euphorically joyful. Their music was overwhelming in a cathartic sort of way. It was as if with every inhale, I was consuming all of the human emotions at once and releasing them all in every exhale. 

Even in the way that Tanenbaum would move and dance throughout the night made it seem like she was floating - swimming through zero-gravity space, lost in a celestial world all of her own. She was like an alien enchantress, her flowing movements and disarming smile causing us, the audience, to completely devote ourselves to her majesty. 

The undeniable chemistry between Tanenbaum and Lewing only strengthened my devotion. Although each did their best to emulate their more aloof Mercurial alien personas, I couldn’t help but notice the quick glances and knowing smiles the two would shoot each other throughout the night. Their genuine love for each other and the music they created together was enough to make anyone release a sigh of longing. It made me feel all the more grateful for this brief glimpse into their world. 

There was never a moment when the audience was not completely entranced. We could see the magic Tanenbaum and Lewing were conjuring, and we desperately wanted to be a part of it in any way we could. We raised our voices to meet them at the highest of heights, singing along to their existential lyrics. We jumped up towards the stratosphere in the hopes we would fly just high enough to join them in their Mercurial World.