Welcome Back Concert shows indie music at its best

Saturday night’s Welcome Back Concert rocked McCarthy Quad, featuring the talents of Los Angeles’ own local indie bands Y Luv, Pepper Rabbit and, last but not least, Canadian band Tokyo Police Club.

The day also included carnival activities and a performance by the Trojan Marching Band, who revealed their new covers of Kanye West’s “All of the Lights” and LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem.” Both songs were incredibly well performed, igniting an outpour of school spirit from the crowd, holding up the Trojan salute throughout the entirety.

The crowd swelled as the night progressed and more audience members showed up to support the local indie bands as well as Tokyo Police Club. Y Luv and Pepper Rabbit proved to be an equal match to the headliner.

Although the majority of the audience was likely unfamiliar with the opening bands, the energy and praise of the bands indicated many indie-alternative music fans were left satisfied. Moreover, after their set Y Luv announced they were giving away free CDs at the merchandise table, and a huge crowd rushed over to pick them up.

Pepper Rabbit’s performance was also impressive, with their unique indie-pop sound using a myriad of instruments from multiple keyboards to a ukulele and of course strong vocals, which proved an essential part of their act.

By the time Tokyo Police Club took the stage, a much larger audience had gathered in anticipation of the classic indie-pop sound that has evolved throughout their albums, especially from their 2007 EP release of A Lesson in Crime, culminating in their most recent release, 2010’s Champ.

Tokyo Police Club’s set opened with their freshest single off of Champ, “Favourite Colour,” which set the upbeat mood for the rest of the night. This cheerful energy could be felt, heard and seen throughout the whole crowd.

The front row behind the barricade was packed with true Tokyo Police Club fans, singing close to every word of every song. However, every row behind that had their hands up in the air, cheering and screaming with every guitar solo or moment of powerful vocals. Frontman David Monks egged on the Trojan audience as he held up the victory sign, creating even more excitement.

The band members interacted with each other in a way that was entertaining, but not too overdone. Tokyo Police Club’s sound and image was definitely a refreshing change from the overplayed popular music played at most social events nowadays.

Overall, Tokyo Police Club’s set was very well-rounded, pulling from every corner of their music catalog and discography, playing all of their career-long officially released singles, including “Tessellate” and “Your English is Good,” and mixing in other indie gems to fill out the set list. When the band finished their set, they were called out back onto the stage and played a two song encore that satisfied anyone unsure about Tokyo Police Club and indie music in general before the concert.

The Welcome Back Concert was largely a success, organized by the Program Board’s Concerts Committee and led by a group of intelligent, dedicated individuals that pulled of this concert through a lot of hard work and perseverance. The Trojan community has a lot to look forward to from the Concerts Committee in the coming year based on the success of the Welcome Back Concert.