By Carolyn Solar |Staff Writer|
Goldenvoice and House of Marley came together on May 9 to present the Island Life All Star Concert at the Fonda Theater in L.A.
Island Life is a series of artist showcase events launched by Island Records in 2014 to highlight young talent under this label.
This show was hosted by Pete Wentz and featured artists like That Poppy, The Karma Killers, Tyler Glenn and headliner Mike Posner.
Fans crammed into this intimate venue for a rare chance to see up-and-coming talent for the price of $30.
Singer-songwriter That Poppy started off the show with her hit song “Everybody Wants To Be Poppy.”
Poppy wore a pink popsicle-printed tee tucked into a big, fluffy skater skirt, an orange fluffy jacket, and a hair bow pinning her long blonde hair off to the side, giving off a 90’s feel.
Her guitarist and bassist both wore shiny silver pants; one wore a fuzzy black crop top, a choker necklace and a hair bow, while the other styled his pants with a yellow turtle neck and pink lip stick.
The drummer had the most normal outfit, by standards of the rest of the band, as he wore white pants, a white and blue striped shirt and a disposable allergy face mask.
Her songs were catchy but the band’s eccentric outfits captured the crowd.
She played a total of six songs, including a cover of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass.”
Her music was comparable to other young artists, such as Melanie Martinez, Hailee Steinfeld and Allie X.
Next was The Karma Killers, who were new artists to me, and apparent fans of 80s fashion.
Vocalist Micky James wore tight leather pants, black boots, a mesh shirt and a black blazer with gold detailing, overshadowing his less dramatic band-mates.
With a similar sound to Arctic Monkeys, The Karma Killers kept the crowd engaged during their set.
Wentz finally made it to the stage mid-way through the concert to introduce Tyler Glenn, the front man for Neon Trees, who will soon be releasing his first solo album.
Glenn made a dramatic entrance as he stared into space and drew an “x” across his face with red lipstick.
This was Glenn’s first live performance as a solo artist and he made a great impression as he continued to engage the audience by using all of the stage to jump, fall to his knees and spread his message of being true to yourself and doing what you love.
Throughout his theatrical performance, a large portion of fans made their way to the front, reciting all of his brand new lyrics back to him and having x’s drawn on their faces and hands.
Much of the message from this album stems from Glenn’s decision to come-out and his recent departure from the Mormon faith.
Although many of his new tracks are difficult to access still, Glenn’s first single, “Trash,” is available online for streaming and download.
The crowd lit up as Wentz returned to introduce the final act of the evening and star of the show, Mike Posner.
Posner and his band mates eagerly made their way to the stage to perform Posner’s latest single, “Buried in Detroit,” a tribute to his hometown.
From face-timing his performance on an audience member’s phone to giving another fan a teddy bear, the crowd was eager for more.
Posner gave a high energy performance but continued to remind his fans to be grateful for the opportunities given in life, because those opportunities can be taken away instantly.
Posner was at the peak of his fame in 2010 when he released his hit songs “Cooler Than Me,” “Please Don’t Go,” and “Bow Chicka Wow Wow,” before succeeding a successful song writer.
He recently rose back to stardom with his hit song “I Took a Pill In Ibiza,” the video reaching over 190 million views on YouTube.
He sang new and old songs, including “Be As You Are,” “Drug Dealer Girl” and “Boyfriend,” which was originally written by Posner but sung by Justin Bieber.
Although I consider myself a Belieber, I definitely feel that Posner did an amazing job at singing it.
He concluded with crowd favorites “Cooler Than Me” and “Please Don’t Go” and came back for an encore to sing “Save Your Goodbye” and “I Took a Pill In Ibiza.”
Posner was humbled by his experience as a musician and showed a lot of love and appreciation for his fans.
With someone of this much talent in the room, I definitely felt lucky to be in such a small venue and for such a low price.
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