Young Culture opens for This Wild Life in Ferndale, MI
Saturday night, New York-based band Young Culture took the stage at the Loving Touch in Ferndale, MI, by storm as the first opener for This Wild Life on their 10 Years of Clouded tour. Despite being the first of two openers, looking around in the crowd, plenty of fans could be spotted sporting their Young Culture merch, eager to be there to support their favorite band. This was a true testament to how loyal their fanbase is already.
Playing to a sold-out crowd, the room was packed with people from wall to wall. The band made sure to bring the energy that would be setting the tone for the evening, and everyone in the room could feel it. After running out on stage, guitarist Gabe Pietrafesa yells out, “Ferndale, we love this city!” which earned cheers from the people watching. Starting out with their song “21 Days,” the crowd was immediately tuned in to the set as everyone bopped their heads and nodded along.
Although the stage was a much smaller one than the band had been playing so far on this tour, with lead singer Alex Magnan mentioning that this show was the hardest time he had trying to move around on stage, he didn’t let that put a damper on his energy in the slightest. As he jumped around on stage, the rest of the band, as well as the sea of people in front of them, matched his energy perfectly. Up front in the crowd, there wasn't a single still body for the entirety of their set.
Halfway through the set, Magnan paused to ask if the group in front of them was down to hear a couple of unreleased songs, to which the answer was a resounding “yes”! The first of the two was a song called “Terrible Creatures,” and the second, a track called “Broken Paper Plane,” really stuck out to me in particular. It was just a notch calmer than the prior songs on the set, and it really allowed Magnan’s vocals to shine through. Judging by the response from the crowd, I'm not alone in looking forward to the release of those two tracks.
Another particularly notable song on the setlist was “Holiday in Vegas.” This track is Young Culture's most streamed song on Spotify, and that’s for a good reason. The instrumentation on this track is so fun, and the chorus is one that is sure to be stuck in your head for the rest of the night. The crowd was really getting into it as everyone jumped and danced along one more time.
Their final song, “Kinda Over It,” had the fans screaming and singing the lyrics back to the band from the very first note, as they ended their set on a high note. While the band left the stage, the Young Culture fans in the crowd started up a chant, showing their support for the band. Afterwards, you could hear the excited chatter from those same fans, as well as positive remarks from people new to Young Culture, turning to each other to express how much they had enjoyed their set. The bar had been set high, and the crowd was looking forward to what the rest of the night had in store for them at the 10 Years of Clouded tour.
