I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: June 24, 2023] Mondo Cozmo

We had enjoyed Illinois, but as my wife said, when Mondo Cozmo started playing it was like, “ah yes, this is a professional band.”  And I know what she meant, somehow Mondo Cozmo stepped up the quality of the performance.  Everything felt a little bigger, a little more polished.

So we had known some Mondo Cozmo songs from hearing them on WXPN.  As of a few days ago I could say I didn’t really remember the songs I knew, although when I played the albums on Spotify they came flooding back.   Suffice it to say we didn’t know most of the songs.

But as soon as Joshua Keith Ostrander started playing (acoustic guitar for the first song) and singing “Meant for Livin'” it was clear why they were the headliners (even if Illinois helped him out when he was first starting).  And by the chorus, we knew that we had picked a perfect show to see.

The band sounded great, Josh’s voice was fantastic and the songs were all catchy as hell.  Even if you didn’t feel comfortable singing along yet, you could easily clap along.

“Meant for Livin'” has a kind of Dylanesque feel of folk rap and and a big ripping chorus.  And I could see from the way that she was smiling  that my wife was happy she came along.

“Black Cadillac” was even bigger, with a fun bass line and another sing along chorus and  fun ending “Give me some sugar.”

“Plastic Soul” was the first Mondo Cozmo song that I knew (it came out in 2017) and I wondered how they would play the piano part of the song with no keyboardist.  Well, it was a sample, I assume from the drummer and it sounded just right.  It starts as a slow song and it builds to a big sloppy singalong by the end.  Lots of fun–although I was surprised that my wife didn’t recognize it–it’s funny that there are some songs that WXPN overplays that each one of us doesn’t recognize when the other one is sick of it.

They played the most songs from that debut album (seven in total), like “Chemical Dream” with the chanted chorus of “all my life is a chemical dream.”

“Come On” had gotten some airplay and I had forgotten about it, so it fun to hear.  The back of Josh’s guitar had “Thanks” painted on it and he flashed that to us between songs.

I loved the way some of the songs, like “Higher” started out simply with a fast-sung verse but then exploded into a big middle section.  “Generator” slowed things down before he jumped into the next song which he said he couldn’t play at Ardmore the night before because his mother was there.  The song is “Your Motherfucker” a stomping song that feels dirty even without the title.

Then he played the first song off his new album and it was fantastic.  “Electrify My Love” perfectly sums up the Mondo Cozmo sound with a huge chorus that you immediately want to sing along to.

Then he called out Archie from Illinois to sing two songs.  The slow ballad “Hold on to Me” worked perfectly with a guest vocalist as did their big hit (such as it is) Shine.

“Shine” was a pretty big radio hit on WXPM (and has 12 million plays on Spotify).  It’s got a folkie sing along chorus that is super catchy and super fun to sing.  And when the whole band, plus Archie, plus the whole room was singing along, it felt pretty amazing. Honestly, it was such a big build up with a fun fake out ending, that it really felt like the end of the show.

But they weren’t done yet.  I had seen that he covered “Bitter Sweet Symphony” but it still surprised me to hear the sampled strung opening.  His version was really good–he has a perfect voice for it.  It also made me wonder what happened to The Verve, who I liked before that album came out and now realize that they have turned into a one hit wonder.

They ended the set with a big sing along of “Automatic,” which I was sure also got a lot of airplay, although my wife said she didn’t recognize it–but she still loved it.

I knew that his sets had been kind of short so I was pretty pleased that the show was over in a reasonable amount of time.  I felt fully satisfied by the show.  Although I did wonder if he was going to do one special thing for his hometown crowd (although he now lives in L.A., I think).

Sure enough a minute or so later he came back out with the band and called an elderly guy up on stage.  The guy was kitted out in a Mondo Cozmo baseball shirt! and I have to assume is related to Josh.  He had the guy hold his phone with the lyrics to Tom Petty’s “Free Girl Now” while the band rocked it out.  It was pretty darn cute.  And the song sounded great too.

The show was fairly short, but it has started really late and Illinois played for a pretty long time, so we weren’t home till 1AM. but it’s summer and that’s what summer is for, right!

I’m so glad I finally got to see the band.

1. Meant For Livin’ ⊗
2. Black Cadillac ∝
3. Plastic Soul ¶
4. Chemical Dream ¶
5. Come On ∝
6. Higher ¶
7. Generator ∝
8. Your Motherfucker ¥
9. Electrify My Love ⊗
10. Hold On to Me ¶ (with Chris Archibald from Illinois guest vocals )
11. Shine ¶ (with Chris Archibald from Illinois guest vocals )
12. Come With Me ¶
13. Bitter Sweet Symphony (The Verve cover)
14. Automatic ¶
    encore
15. Free Girl Now (Tom Petty cover)

¶ Plastic Soul (2006)
∝ New Medicine (2008)
⊗ This is for the Barbarians (2011)
¥ Your Motherfucker EP (2014)