By Eva Lynch
Yves Tumor, whose real name is Sean Bowie, is an experimental musician from Miami, Florida, known for creating and producing soulful glam-rock music that works to break both genres and boundaries in the alternative music scene. Yves themself is non binary, and this fluidity is incorporated into their performance, fashion, and their genre defying discography.
Yves Tumor had two openers for the night. First was an experimental rap artist by the name of Izzy Spears. Spears is a member of the experimental and underground punk collective Anonymous Club —produced by Yves Tumor— that aims to remake pop-culture through fine art, installation and performance. Spears performed several songs from the Anonymous Club, warming up the crowd with his high energy tracks that, similar to Yves, challenged the traditional sounds of electronic music. Next to the stage was Doss, an American DJ who has gathered a cult-like following since dropping her first EP 7 years ago. Doss played experimental dance music with trance-inducing beats and rhythms that was full of escalations and intense beat drops and got the crowd jumping and energy flowing, ready for Yves Tumor.
At 10 pm on the dot, a spiky haired silhouette emerged through a thick layer of illuminated smoke. Yves revealed themself as the smoke dissipated and they launched into their latest single “Jackie”, wearing studded leather gloves, a studded leather jacket and studded crotch harness over a pair of moto pants. Halfway through the set, they removed their leather jacket to reveal a separate leather vest underneath which spelt out 69 in studs on the back, in almost a BDSM leather-cowboy look. Along with Yves’white spiky hair which matched the white triangle painted on their face and cabaret-esque make up, the entire band evoked glam rock style with what seemed like inspiration from other famously boundary pushing artists like David Bowie.
Yves Tumor’s recording might be energy-packed, but doesn’t hold a light to their live show. It embodies all the elements of glam rock and roll with experimental and electronic or cyberpunk twists, maximizing the experience in all senses for an incredibly captivating show you could get lost in. They deliver a dark and enticing show, emphasizing the grunge and playing with the pleasure and the pain you can hear in their music, pushing the mics and amps to their limit and showcasing Yves’ talent beyond what can be captured in a studio. Despite the off-the-charts energy, Yves maintained an air of grace about them as they held the mic with poise, making the rich and emotional vocals seem effortless. One of the greatest gems of the show, however, were the added guitar solos that brought even more rock and roll spirit to the show. Yves’ energetic interactions with their lead guitarist, Chris Greatti, was electric, and you couldn’t look away as they battled for the dominant role on stage, Yves at one point even grabbing the back of Greatti’s hair and pushing them onto their knees as he played the guitar. The crowd ate up every minute of the show, yelling along to the lyrics, starting a mosh pit for beloved hits such as Kerosene and even initiating their own crowd surfing.
Yves Tumor isn’t a show to miss as they are constantly paving their own path, and not only is the music beautifully executed but the performance they put on and relationship they kindle with the crowd is incredibly engaging, and it’s clear they have fun on stage sharing their vision with the audience.