Musician Two Feet gives electrifying performance


Bill Dess, known to the world through his music under the name “Two Feet,” brought his music to the El Rey Theatre on Tuesday, and impressed the crowd with a relatively invigorated performance compared to previous concerts. His close friend, rising musician Absofacto, acted as the concert’s opener, while singer-songwriter Naomi surprised the crowd with a guest appearance. 

El Rey Theatre is a dimly lit, elegant venue filled with trendy L.A. locals nearly every night of the week. Two Feet’s concert was no exception, having sold out their Tuesday night show.

Absofacto, the stage name of Jonathan Visger, opened with the songs “Herizen,” “Trouble” and “Endless Summer.” He also played his most popular song “Dissolve” which has over 6 million streams on Spotify. The crowd approved of and encouraged Absofacto with earnest applause, and eagerly awaited the headliner to take the stage.

Two Feet delivered an out-of-character performance that saw him bursting with energy. Emily Smith | Daily Trojan

At 9:30 p.m., Two Feet began his set. Normally, Two Feet concerts consist of Dess wearing a black t-shirt, black pants and playing a black guitar; he’s known for standing center stage, performing casually and emitting relaxed, mellow vibes. This night, however, Two Feet transformed his image. Dess veered from his usual black street wear to studded jeans and snakeskin shoes, traded in his black guitar for a red and white one and even crowd surfed. This conduct was out of character for Two Feet, but the crowd responded excitedly to his new rockstar persona.

Throughout the concert, Two Feet mixed his most famous songs with new covers he wanted to test out on the crowd. Dess performed “Quick Musical Doodles and Sex,” “I Feel Like I’m Drowning” and his most popular hit, “Go F-ck Yourself,” which received an encore thanks to its incredible live rendition. After playing “Go F-ck Yourself” Dess looked at producer Geoffrey Hufford, who was on drum pad, asked him to play the song again and then proceeded to leap into the crowd. Audience members jumped to be closer to Dess and the venue lit up with phone cameras, as no one in the crowd wanted to miss the marquee moment.

Two Feet drew the crowd in with his rockstar attitude, guitar tricks and copacetic stage presence. When he wasn’t crowd surfing, playing guitar on the floor or sipping whiskey, Two Feet stood center-stage as always, playing his guitar and whispering into the microphone. The audience was surprised by Two Feet’s unexpected energy, so the air was calm for the majority of the concert when he wasn’t performing his outrageous antics.

Dramatic, raspy and dark, Two Feet’s music is eerily relatable for millennials today. Fittingly, most concertgoers were young adults or teenagers, though a number of older couples attended. Still, with such a dynamic performance, Dess managed to put on a show that everyone was able to enjoy.