We picked Youngr’s show at the Deaf Institute as one of our top Manchester gigs for January 2019 and we feel smugly justified.
Long before he steps out on stage, the crowd is bouncing. Chatting feverishly. Laughing and joking. All eager to get as close to the stage as possible. It’s a good atmosphere from a crowd who clearly know that they’re in for a party.
It’s around 9pm when Youngr makes his way out and there’s immediately a huge cheer. He strides onto the stage and launches straight into his set. What follows is a masterclass of instrumentation, with great sampling and performance.
He is surrounded by an incredible set up. Keys, synths, guitars, bass, drums, microphones, samplers form a circle in which he is the focal point. It’s an imposing sight. Even more impressive is his ability to move fluidly around the set up with pin point timing, accuracy and co-ordination as he brings each and every instrument into play in the course of the show.
His set has the audience bouncing up and down, dancing away, cheering, singing along. He samples an eclectic array of tracks including artists Warren G and Nate Dog, Daft Punk, The Temper Trap, even The Corrs whilst performing the mash-ups and bootlegs which first caught many people’s attention. There’s influences of funk, soul, pop and rock in a perfect blend of music.
He bounds through the set list with tremendous energy. And the crowd are right there with him. He’s truly brought the party to the Deaf Institute.
The tempo is largely upbeat although he does bring it down slightly for his own tracks Lost in Translation and the tremendous Out of My System, making for a good contrast. The incredible ’93 also stands out as he performs track after track of feel good, dance along mash ups and originals.
Youngr (aka Dario Darnell) is a must see live act and one you truly have to witness to quite believe.
