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Atlas Genius Maps Their Way To The Wiltern

Jillian Morabito |
March 21, 2013 | 3:11 a.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

As the amber sun set Wenesday evening, the hottest thing in town was happening at the Wiltern Theater at the corner of Western and Wilshire. Angelinos gathered as Imagine Dragons hosted their “Night Visions” tour, which featured opening act, Atlas Genius.  

READ MORE: Atlas Genius's Keith Jeffery Discusses 'Trojans' And Tour

Undoubtedly, you have heard their hit single, “Trojans.” If not, that soundproof rock you have been living in must’ve cost a pretty penny. Not to worry though, their debut album, "When It Was Now," came out last month and there is still plenty of time to purchase it and see them in concert again.

The charming band is comprised of three brothers (lead singer/guitarist Keith, bassist Steven, drummer Michael) and keyboardist Darren Sell. Another fun fact: think Australia is only good for producing fiancés for Miley and sheltering a plethora of kangaroos? Wrong. Atlas Genius is proud to call Adelaide, South Australia their home.

The band opened Wednesday night for a sold-out show anticipating a performance that would live up to the hype. As the crowd grew restless, Atlas Genius arrived promptly and began their set with “Symptoms,” a song about how a relationship can go from “hot” to “cold."

People immediately caught quite a few symptoms such as the "concert sway," the "lyric-mumbling nod," and of course the ever so popular "phone-holding in other people's view dance."

On A Day,” a lesser-known song by the Australian band of brothers, was a pleasant surprise due to the rather unfortunate lyrics paired with an infectious beat. Same goes for “All These Girls.” Such sweet lyrics and a melodious rhythm immediately enticed the concert-goers.  

Beginning with a pulsing guitar beat, the crowd sang along to Atlas Genius’s new single, “If So.” The vocals paired with the guitar were as crisp as the dawn of a new morning. Keith prompted the crows to sing along to the simple refrain and everyone eventually caught on.

A standout from their EP, Atlas Genius hit it out of the ballpark with “Backseat.” A salacious song about tempable occurrences, the performance of this particular track was alluring to say the least. The “ah ah ah”s were perfectly executed by the rest of the band while Keith rendered a kneeling guitar solo, both of which were met by screaming applause from the audience.  

Atlas Genius’s worldwide hit, “Trojans,” was highly anticipated to say the least. Surprisingly, the usual mellow song was arranged with an upbeat tempo. Fans may have been surprised at first by thinking, “Is this. . . really?”

But overall, it worked extremely well. The faster beat made the audience become even more engrossed in the song, with virtually every fan in the venue singing along. Jeffery also exercised a longer guitar rift in the letter half of the song, further altering the track.  

Of course, a hefty amount of camera phones were out filming the entire concert (because who remembers anything anymore without the help of technology anymore?).  However, their standing ovation at the end of the set was a perfect conclusion to their tragically short opening performance. After the concert, the humble band even stayed after to meet fans and take pictures. It is always reassuring to witness a musicians conversing and thanking their fans instead of ordering them to bow down.

Going to a concert can sometimes be a stressful experience, especially in Los Angeles. There’s parking to worry about, dinner to be eaten, an inevitable heavy flow of traffic, lines as long as a "Twilight" premire, reasonably priced tickets as hard to come by as a decent Nicholas Cage film, etc. However, after seeing a band as full of talent as Atlas Genius, you know it is worth it at the end of the night.

Read more of NT's show reviews here.

Contact Staff Reporter Jillian Morabito here.



 

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