I got to Alewife a little later than I wanted to, but soon enough, in a repeat of exactly a week ago, I was at the Middle East in Central Square for yet another show. Tonight it was Norwegian indie pop band boy pablo. I had decided to buy a ticket the night before after putting it off for whatever reason, but it sold out shortly after I purchased the ticket.
I’m guessing a lot of people, including myself first became aware of them as a suggested video on Youtube. I watched the video and fell in love with the song.
boy pablo (yes, in all of it’s lowercase splendor) were the only band playing. Although doors were at 7pm, the show didn’t start until 9:30pm and the Middle East down was completely packed for this sold out show. I ordered a Jack’s Abbey Hoponius Union and found a spot near the upper bar.
boy pablo
When the band came out, the crowd went absolutely crazy! I have to say, this was one of those few times you could actually tell that a band really appreciated the people who came out to see them. Flashing giant smiles and acknowledging the crowd, and hamming it up a bit, they really had the crowd behind them.
Lead singer Pablo Muñoz definitely charmed the crowd and comes off as extremely likable (to be fair, the entire band comes off that way as well). It seemed like they played just about every song they have put out, especially since most songs are pretty short.
boy pablo
At one point, the band did an acapella version of “Afternoon Delight” as well as covers of Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, and Michael Jackson as seen in the video below. They play for about an hour and 10 minutes with 2 songs during the encore, which became a huge dance party. This was one of the most fun shows I’ve been to in a long time and I did not regret buying that ticket at the last minute at all.
boy pablo 2018 tour dates:
10/28/18 – The Button Factory – Dublin, Ireland
10/29/18 – Belgrave Music Hall – Leeds, United Kingdom
10/30/18 – Club Academy – Manchester, United Kingdom
10/31/18 – Fiddlers – Bristol, United Kingdom
11/01/18 – Electric Ballroom – London, United Kingdom
11/02/18 – Pitchfork Music Festival Paris – Paris, France
11/03/18 – LA GRANDE HALLE DE LA VILLETTE – Paris, France
11/14/18 – Shibuya Tsutaya O-Nest – Shinjuku-ku, Japan
11/15/18 – Modeci – Seoul, South Korea
11/16/18 – Omni Space – Beijing, China
11/17/18 – Arkham – Shanghai, China
11/18/18 – The Wall – Taipei City, Taiwan
11/20/18 – Mom Live House – Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong
11/22/18 – Pavilion – Bishan, Singapore
11/23/18 – Kuningan City Ballroom – Jakarta, Indonesia
11/24/18 – Moonstar Studio – Bangkok, Thailand
11/25/18 – Century City Mall – Makati, Philippines