BrightestYoungThings: Live Baltimore: Junior Boys @ Sonar

all photos: Mike Danko
all words: Wlada Kolosowa

I totally get why girls would buy tickets for Junior Boys: Jeremy Greenspan’s silky voice, the sweet melancholy and all the lyrics about love (-making ). It’s synth-soul rather than kawoom – the ultimate gateway drug for liking electronic music. I always considered Junior Boys perfect electro-pop for chicks, very danceable tunes with a right portion of languid sadness. And Matt Didemus is hot (if you like it geeky). But what would drive all the boys into going to the show?

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I was pretty surprised by the demographics of the show. It doesn’t seem as if the males were dragged there by their girlfriends. Firstly, they didn’t look forced at all, and secondly they even out weighted the ladies on Friday. Sonar wasn’t as packed as the Junior Boys deserved, but still not bad for a Halloween Friday – and a very appreciative crowd. The duo opened up pretty slow, almost tranquillizing - still the first feet already started to bounce. Well, it wasn’t too hard. Woodhands, an electro-rock duo from Toronto, already pre-heated the crowd sweating their butts off on stage. They were pure energy! The multitasking talent Dan Werb almost overstrained his keytar, his synths and his voice and Paul Banwatt wasn’t exactly going easy on his drums either. After that it should have been a hard job to get everybody going.

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At first the dancing was timid, but by the third song the effect started to kick in. The well-proven combo of über-smooth Didemus behind his set and Greenspann’s tender vocals did the trick once again. Nonchalance here, charm there – the Boys know how to handle their audience. “In The Morning” got them all. Those who were secretly hoping for more oomph and less sentiments (me) have got their wishes fulfilled in the last minutes. The encore track swept everybody off their feet.

The Junior Boys took off easy and ended with a storm. The sweet-talkers from Ontario came, saw and conquered once again – female hearts as well as male. By the end of the show I’ve also found a both banal and plausible explanation for the demographics. Sometimes boys need to dream and dance, too.

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