MS MR: Get Wrapped Up in the Chaos

MS MR w/Jack Garratt, Crater
Neptune Theatre, Seattle, WA
10.20.15

Lizzy Plapinger is sweating, and the crowd isn’t far behind. Half of the New York-based duo MSMR – along with producer Max Hershenow – Plapinger mesmerized the crowd at The Neptune with her spastically flirtatious dance moves, and they all danced right along with her. The stage was swamped in fog and overtaken by a rainbow light show, while the band’s name hung in LED light boards above them.

Accompanied by two additional band members, both Plapinger and Hershenow look like they’re meant to be on stage and with the release of their sophomore album How Does It Feel this summer, they’ve put the ball in the crowd’s court. While the show wasn’t sold out, it was just crowded enough to let people have a bit of dancing room. And everyone was singing along throughout a set that was nicely balanced between tracks from their 2013 release Secondhand Rapture and the new record.

During “Fantasy” Hershenow stepped out from behind the keyboard for a solo dance moment, everyone clapped their way through “Salty Sweet,” and they had everyone chanting along with “How Does It Feel.” There was a quick sound bite about having written “Pieces” with good friend Tove Lo, before they closed out the set with the dance-inducing “Painted.”

MSMR have consistency to their sound, to their performance, maintaining a dark energy throughout, with humility and appreciation for the crowd. They may not be offering up anything wholly unique or mindblowing, but MSMR certainly give it all they’ve got and the crowd seemed satisfied. They night ended with a two-song encore, including their debut hit “Hurricane.”

Youthful British multi-instrumentalist and producer Jack Garratt was a name I was previously unfamiliar with, Garratt certainly made his mark. His tracks are a masterful mix of heavy bass R&B and electronica, while his delivery is solo on a stage with synths and guitar and drum pad. He did a cover of the Disclosure & Sam Smith track “Latch” but it was actually the rest of his set that piqued interest and had the crowd in the palm of his capable hands.

Local openers Crater, a band who’s spent the last couple of years making some pretty big buzz, delivered a fuzzed-out wall of sound. It felt like the audience wasn’t quite sure what to make of their genre-defying tracks, but there’s definitely something there.

MSMR Set List
Reckless
Fantasy
No Guilt in Pleasure
Salty Sweet
Tripolar
Think of You
How Does It Feel
Wrong Victory
Tunnels
Criminals
Dark Doo Wop
Pieces
Leave Me Alone
Painted
Encore
Bones
Hurricane