UPSAHL stylizes to all caps at Paradise Rock Club on Monday, 30 September 2024.

Conor Burns and Zoe Ko star in the opening slots before returning to roll some heads in the final act.

The booker behind the local live music series Illegally Blind (puts together the Fuzzstival and more), Jason Trefts, is raising money to start a non-profit organization, staffed by brain tumor survivors, “that will provide free short-term care coordination services for people in the Boston, MA area recently diagnosed with a brain tumor.”

The mission of the project hits close to home for Trefts. In his own words, “I was diagnosed with an incurable Astrocytoma at 24 years old. I have spent the decade-plus since navigating chronic disabling conditions while working in the human services field.”

“Astrocytoma” is a type of brain tumor. And while Trefts has been dealing with that, he has also been working in care coordination himself, observing first hand how important the work is. His proposed non-profit would make more of that important work happen for more people. Find out the details and donate at the Still Around Gofundme.

The local undergraduate crowd and more turned up for a triple stack bill of unapologetic pop supremacy at Paradise Rock Club. Bouncy hooks, singalong refrains, and wall-to-wall vamping ruled the night as performers stripped the music, and their outfits, down to the bare essentials.

Speaking of that last bit, Zoe Ko sold “Kiss My Ass” undergarments at the merch table, and modeled a pair onstage. Or was it “Kiss My (Ah)” in honor of the track by the same name off her Zoe Ko Head To Toe album? Hard to say, it all happened in one dizzying instant between a refrain and yet another tidal wave of sorority sisters breaking along the beach of a neon chorus.

Ko performed as a duo, alongside an electric guitarist who provided a kind of rock n roll coffee table for the singer to set her drink on, again, and again, and again. Don’t forget to use a coaster, that was a hand-me-down from your grandma. No live drummer in sight, but plenty of backing tracks.

The fog machine was in full effect Monday night. Full foggery. There are special insurance, security, and cleaning protocols related to use of fog machines, so they’re kind of a pain to crank up, and a lot of venues take a pass. Appreciate it when you see it, especially at the medium- and smaller-sized venues, which don’t necessarily have the financial breathing room to absorb the financial impact if something goes wrong with the fog.

Conor Burns performed as a three-piece, guitar, drums, and Burns himself, in full flower, on the mic. The dedicated vocalist is a little bit of a lost art in some of the subgenres. Some artists feel naked without a guitar, or keyboard, or drum kit between them and the audience. Not Burns; the singer was nearly naked for most of the set and got on with it just fine. The glamor muscles are in place, but what about overall cardio health? If the occasional karate kicks, which Burns deployed for lyrical emphasis, are any indication, the cardio is solid.

The set was pure pop punk with plenty of shredding by the superlative guitarist. Extra points, as always, when the guitarist is able to make you forget the lack of a bassist. If the effects and attack is just right, you don’t even notice the absence of a live low end. Shout out to a song about loving a girl who only loved girls, a kind of unrequited love anthem that the entire band dug into with relish.

An Aphex Twin song (something from Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 1) came on the house mix between the Conor Burns and UPSAHL set. Most venues will make the house mix available to the performing artist to play their preferred playlist – whatever they think will get the room into the right mood. 

It’s not always clear whether artists take advantage of the option. If they don’t, the house will default to its own playlist, but you’re never quite sure – unless you go to shows at the venue all the time – what’s the house playlist and what’s not.

You could see the Aphex Twin being an UPSAHL selection. Not just because it cuts into the edgy electronic territory in which she’s planting some (but not all) of her flags, but also because the song that came up next on the house mix, a pure coed dancehall banger, captures the kind of tension UPSAHL builds into her performances. You know, exotic club diva meets girl in puffy designer jacket next door. She’s living and dying in the crucible of “Tears On The Dancefloor.”

With the neon architecture and racy, glammed-out gear, UPSAHL is lightspeeding in a farther flung orbit than most coeds would dare to traverse on their own. But the easy hooks, thumping beat, and singable refrains provide enough of an “in” so that every fan in the crowd can imagine themselves inhabiting, if only by proxy, the electric bravura of the artist – as long as they Surrender. To. The. Night.

How do you surrender to the night? Hard seltzer doesn’t hurt. But Zoe Ko hit the bullseye with her remark during the opening set to the effect that the best concerts are the ones where you let yourself go without second-guessing it. You know, all the bare flesh, fog, Aphex Twin, fancy lighting, singalongs, and split-second upskirts are only enticements. They don’t count for much by themselves. The crowd, as always, has to bring it.

Did they bring it? Oh, it’s already been broughten. Kudos to the headliner UPSAHL for bringing the openers out for some extra pop with a collab cover of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Heads Will Roll” at the end of the night.

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