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Review: T. Mills At The El Rey

Kathy Zerbib |
April 25, 2014 | 4:50 p.m. PDT

Film Editor

Confetti ended T. Mills' night at the El Rey (Kathy Zerbib/Neon Tommy).
Confetti ended T. Mills' night at the El Rey (Kathy Zerbib/Neon Tommy).
A night of fun for T. Mills' fans at the El Rey in Hollywood was a night of safety concerns for the theater's staff. But, really, a chaotic ending to the All I Wanna Do tour was entirely to be expected.

Travis Tatum Mills, known by his stage name T. Mills, is a performer who blends rapping with singing and electronic sounds. The artist from Riverside, Calif., is known for his abundance in tattoos and extra-large gauges - until he opted to sew his ears shut in 2013. The All I Wanna Do tour was to promote T. Mills' new EP, also titled All I Wanna Do (Find it on iTunes here).

T. Mills' fans flocked to the El Rey to support him on Thursday night. The room was about 75 percent full, with the population roughly split at a ratio of 65-35 between females to males, respectively. Perhaps the best way to describe those in attendance are that they look like they shop at Hot Topic or Sidecca. The crowd was on the younger side, perhaps ranging from later teens to mid-twenties. Tattoos and piercings were commonplace. If it weren't for the body art, the crowd of baby faces could be mistaken for much younger. Oh, and is that Kylie Jenner up on the balcony in the back of the room? We see you, Kylie. Love the new hair.

The set T. Mills chose was relatively simple. Pictures of the star were blown up and stood in the back of the stage. In a few shots, T. Mills is seen pointing a banana like a gun. Quite adorable, especially considering this was an all-ages event. Next to his faces was a banner with "All I Wanna Do Tour" written on it.

His show's lineup included his two best friends, Blackbear and Mod Sun, and Pia Mia. 

Blackbear started the night off. For a guy named "Blackbear," he certainly fit his title. Blackbear sports a paw print on one side of his neck, and was wearing a shirt with holes in it. He had a band of his own to accompany on stage, but no set decorations. 

As is relatively commonplace for performers with plenty of energy to spare, Blackbear belted out every tune… To the point where his voice was distorted. If you didn't already know the lyrics to his songs, good luck trying to understand every word while he was on stage. This became a common problem of the night for the various sets. But Blackbear was having the time of his life. In typical rockstar fashion, he alternated between gulps of water and liquor. For his set, he performed songs off his new album "The Afterglow." 

Despite Blackbear being a little hard to understand, his energy and his dynamic personality was captivating. There was plenty of hair throwing and hand holding (Blackbear and the many screaming girls at the front of the stage) during his act. His drummer rocked out the solo moment. 

The first act at any show is granted the difficult task of stirring up a dull crowd. Blackbear tried and, for the most part, succeeded in doing so. However, the lag between each set ruined the energetic vibe. Transitioning from Blackbear until Mod Sun took about ten minutes. The crowd was lulled back to calm. From behind the curtain, you could hear instruments being tested out and voices. Doing a sound check between sets? That's bold. Mildly inconvenient, but very bold.

Still, an impromptu sound check between sets didn't help the next act, Mod Sun. His one-man band came out playing an electric guitar and shouted something to the crowd as background music started. Too bad his mic wasn't on. After several heart-stopping moments, the mic came on and all was well again. 

Mod Sun is a surprise, to say the least. His look is very alternative-rock-meets-mild-punk, but the second he started rapping his songs the atmosphere changed. If Blackbear was hard to follow along, Mod Sun was almost impossible. He screamed his raps. But, wow, what energy! He head-banged, stomped and turned in circles all over the stage. By this time, the stage had been redecorated to include splashes of rainbow-colored posters. This was definitely a much-needed upgrade from the straight black and white of T. Mills' posters. 

Shockingly, Mod Sun first came out in a long sleeve shirt. With all the thrashing he knew he was planning on doing, one would think he'd dress appropriately. Of course, minutes after he took the stage and already covered in sweat, he took off the long sleeve to reveal a tank top and two arms full of tattoos.

Mod Sun's set included songs like "Free Love," "Happy As Fuck," "Hug Life," and "Never Quit Smoking" (which features Travis Barker from Blink 182). 

"Til I die, I will never quit smoking," he said to the 'all ages permitted' crowd. Hmm. 

Side note: His "Happy As Fuck" song is so much better than Pharrell William's "Happy." Is that an unpopular opinion? Too bad. 

He also made a note to the crowd that his album "Free Love" is out now and has another set for June. To end his set, Mod Sun took a selfie video with the crowd.

At this point, Mod Sun is off the stage and the time is 9:40pm. Keep in mind, the first act Blackbear took the stage just before 9:00pm. Two sets down within an hour? Once again, waiting between sets is painful.

READ MORE: The Weeknd At The Greek Theatre: Review

Then, it was Pia Mia Perez's turn. Bless her heart. She sought out a different approach than her fellow male performers. For her set, Pia Mia incorporated four talented male backup dancers. She started off with a prayer (literally, in a praying position) and then the whole group broke off into dance. 

You may know Pia Mia from YouTube, especially her cover of Drake's single "Hold On, We're Going Home" (Obvi, she performed it). She's also good friends with Kylie, which would explain why the reality star was spotted on the balcony of the El Rey. 

When watching Pia Mia perform, you notice two very important things: first, her spectacularly fit bod, and second, her sweet angelic voice. The girl is actually 17. Does she look or sound 17? No. Not at all. 

Now, back to the show. Pia Mia danced her heart out, but the choreo was pretty meh. And it's especially a shame considering how obviously talented her dancers are. Pia Mia's routine not only repeated several times, but also featured the most random dance moves like the Bernie, the sprinkler, the chicken, and the Nae Nae. No, no. Her set included songs like "Complicated," "On My Mind," "I Got It" and "Red Love." 

Despite a couple malfunctions (her mic getting lost in her wonderful hair, her voice cracking, etc), her performance was not bad. While Blackbear and Mod Sun did their best to hype up the crowd, Pia Mia mellowed everyone out. Her soulful singing, the chemistry between her and her dancers, and the slower beat of her songs helped counter the pained look in her face every time she belts out a tune. Well, at least you could understand every word she sang.

After she was done rocking out, she turned the stage over to her dancers. This was a cute moment. Her backup dancers took turns dancing to Lil Jon's "Turn Down for What?" and showed off their amazing break-dancing moves. The crowd cheered and Pia Mia danced off to the side in support.

By now, it's 10:10pm and Pia Mia has exited the stage. If the wait before wasn't bad enough, imagine the 25-minute lag before T. Mills' turn. At a couple points, the restless crowd started chanting his name. 

READ MORE: Review: Problem At The El Rey Theatre

Finally, the curtain opened… To a three-man band playing instruments. No T. Mills yet. He comes out a minute later, donned in a black leather jacket, white long sleeve (What's up with the long sleeves in such a high-temperature environment?!), white shorts and white shoes. The crowd went wild. 

Side note: T. Mills without his signature gauges is a shocking sight. He still has that boyish charm, but he looks a few years younger now.

T. Mills rocked out to "The Boom," "Loud," "Right Song," "Riverside Girls" (dedicated to two Riverside girls who attended his VIP session before the show) and several other relatively new songs. Later, he performed oldies like "She Got A" (A necessity) and "Vans On." The crowd sang right along with him. Funny enough, everything he said could easily be understood.

During his set, things slowly spun out of control. He brought Blackbear and Mod Sun back up, but no Pia Mia in sight. At some point, a concertgoer threw a pair of panties up on stage. T. Mills picked it up and placed it on a mic stand by his drummer. At another point, a full-figured bra popped up. He made a joke about the name and number on the bra and promptly put it in the back of the stage to "save for later." He also wiped off all his sweat on a cloth and threw it into the crowd. Someone near the front waved a joint at him. T. Mills took it, took a drag and handed it back. Security did not look pleased, but people were getting exceptionally hyped by now.

So much sweat had already graced the stage that night, but T. Mills wanted more. He started selecting girls to come join him on stage. Actually, he pointed at girls and told them to come up. So, naturally, everyone tried coming up.

Madness ensued as hordes of girls fought their way up. Total safety concern, considering girls were climbing up barefoot, being dragged up, stomping on cords, kicking speakers, standing on speakers, and filling up the stage. About 50 people made their way up, despite T. Mills' entourage and El Rey employees coaxing many girls back down. Girls brought their girls up. People climbed by the side of the stage and tiptoed past lights and other tech equipment. T. Mills didn't look too pleased, but the girls were ecstatic so he went with it. He performed his last song of the night, "All I Wanna Do," while girls stomped and jumped and danced all over. With a blast of confetti, it was all over. When the music ended, the girls swarmed him while the rest of the audience made its exit.

It was quite a night, but there are several takeaways from T. Mills' experience at the El Rey. For one - this should not have been an all-ages event. There were young kids present in the audience. The acts used excessive profanity, drug references, sexual innuendos and every other nightmare tactic for parents. Save the mature stuff for a mature audience… But definitely keep the mature stuff. 

For another thing, T. Mills proved he is a unique image. He can't be compared to others with similar characteristics to him, like Machine Gun Kelly, G-Eazy, or Macklemore. T. Mills is T. Mills. His fans love and embrace him and, clearly, are very much devoted to supporting him. He deserves to perform at a bigger venue - no complaints, however, to an intimate setting like the El Rey - where more people can see him with elbow room to spare. Who knows? Maybe his next concert will be at the Staples center. Hopefully, with less safety hazards to worry over.

Reach Film Editor Kathy Zerbib here. Follow her on Twitter here.



 

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