Mondo Cozmo finds its calling at Union Transfer

Mondo Cozmo | photo by Tom Beck for WXPN

After bouncing around in a few bands earlier in life, including Laguardia and Eastern Conference Champions, Bucks County native Josh Ostrander finally found his calling with Mondo Cozmo in 2015 where he and his band began to pick up steam with the first single, “Shine.” Eventually, one great song would eventually turn into ten when the band released its debut album, Plastic Soul, early last month while the band was on tour playing Lollapalooza in Chicago.

All of the songs off this album were performed last night at a homecoming show at Union Transfer with a few extra covers to boot: The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City.”

The band opened with an energetic version of “Angel” and kept the energy up all night. There wasn’t a single slow, low-energy song in the entire set-list, as evidenced by Ostrander’s constant parading jumping and parading around the stage. The rest of the band members followed suit. The crowd reacted just as enthusiastically, jumping and dancing to the music and acknowledged the band’s high energy set with scattered chants of Ostrander’s “Mondo Cosmo” moniker. “Higher” and “Hold on to Me,” along with the obvious “Shine,” which ended the night, proved to be especially great live songs, making the concert feel less like just another show and more like an out-of-body experience.

In other news, avid Free at Noon-goer and Comcast Sportsnet’s Eagles Beat Writer Reuben Frank sat in for a song during Illinois’ opening set, contributing keys. He was greeted with chants of “Rooooooooooooob.”

Angel
Chemical Dream
Higher
Come With Me
Future Bends
Thunder
Hold on to Me
Plastic Soul
Bittersweet Symphony
11 Acre
Automatic
——
Atlantic City
Shine