The Internet puts the Fillmore into a spiral of emotions

The Internet | photo by Isaiah Spicer for WXPN | iospicer.com

Five years ago, I was on my way to Festival Pier to see Cali pop-funk band The Internet along with Chance The Rapper, Vince Staples, Meek Mill, and the late Mac Miller. It was a hefty line up filled with some later to be very influential artists in the music industry. Thursday night, I was heading to the Fillmore to see the LA-based collective once again.

Fellow Los Angeles group Moonchild opened the show promptly at 8 o’clock with jazzy pop ballads incorporating a variety of instruments including the saxophone, a flute, and a clarinet. Each member brings their personalities to the set, and the stage was filled with nothing but smiles, especially vocalist Amber Navran. She was a ray of sunshine, and when she whipped out her saxophone, everyone lost it. She impressively transitioned between singing to playing the flute to the saxophone during various songs. Moonchild gave the crowd a soulful performance filled with some old school jazz and funk with a combination of some smooth instrumental work.  

The whole aesthetic of The Internet is very laid back, so it wasn’t a surprise that they set the stage up to look like a simple, chill living room space, equipped with a couch, a lamp, a table, and a few plants. Guitarist-vocalist Steve Lacy, keyboardist Matthew Martin, bassist Patrick Paige Jr., and drummer Christopher Smith strolled onto the stage and went straight into things with “Come Over” from their new LP Hive Mind. Syd followed shortly, hopping right onto the coffee table with the microphone propped right in front of her. The warmth of Syd’s angelic voice was mesmerizing and her unique lyrical flow got the whole crowd feeling some type of way.

Syd truly is a performer. She was grooving and shakin’ on stage to every single song. She got the crowd dancing and vibin’ to every single note, especially during “La Di Da.” The youngest of the five-piece, guitarist-vocalist Steve Lacy, joined Syd for this track. There’s a part in “La Di Da”. where Lacy says “There’s enough me to go around, I don’t bite ….. To be honest, all I really wanna do is take you to the bridge.” And I remember just hearing a bunch of women screaming their hearts out, including myself. Lacy later takes center stage to sing “Beat Goes On” and got the females in the crowd even more riled up.

Performing “Palace / Curse and “Under Control,” Syd displayed her ability to hit some pretty high notes with ease. Lacy and Syd’s harmonies paired well with Paige’s smooth bass lines and Smith’s funky percussion. They brought several tracks from their previous album, the Grammy-nominated Ego Death, including “Special Affairs”. Each person in the audience lost their shit when that song came on. The Internet later hit the audience with a tear jerk as they dedicated the next song “It Gets Better (With Time)” to the beloved rapper Mac Miller. I would be lying if I said I didn’t tear up…a lot. Bassist Patrick Paige, Jr. gave a short spoken word performance. Syd finished off the show strong with a variety of songs including “Girl” from Ego Death.

The night really put every single person, as well as myself,  into their feels, and I was somewhat okay with that. Seeing The Internet was a blast from the past, and better yet, I got to see the group grow from an opener at a Festival Pier show to a headliner at The Fillmore.