Since returning to his project Youth Lagoon after a seven-year hiatus, Trevor Powers has slowly eased back into a comfort zone in his music, pushing the envelope in creativity while retaining much of the nostalgic goodness quite literally in his most recent album, Rarely Do I Dream.

See my preview from Pitchfork Fest 2022 on his return back onto the scene. And based on his appearance and “Negan-esque” saunter, we were in store for something different. But those changes weren’t changes but more so maturity in the way Powers was creating his music. The dreaminess you could easily lose yourself in was still there, but his words rooted you into his reality and allowed you the listener a varied perspective.

Touring as a three-piece band this go-around, he purposely omits the fourth member, a casing of boomboxes also mic’d up and seemingly plugged into his keyboards as many of the recordings in the new YL album sing their own notes as well in the live performance. Regardless of his hardened exterior, Powers is still a softy inside delicately revealing fond memories. The biggest highlight for me was the live performance of “Speed Freak”; there’s something exciting happening in Youth Lagoon music and I’m happy to stay in Powers’ world as long as he’ll have me.

 

Setlist:
Neighborhood Scene
Rabbit
Prizefighter
Football
Cannons
Afternoon
Perfect World
Seersucker
Idaho Alien
Gumshoe (Dracula from Arkansas)
Mercury
17
Speed Freak

Encore:
Montana
Mute