The last time Yellow Days played in Orange County—at Santa Ana’s Observatory in April 2018—$15 tickets were reselling for $75 each on StubHub.
That’s pretty high demand for a then 19-year-old on his first tour of America. But when you have a voice as smoky and nostalgic as English singer-guitarist George Van Den Broek, mesmerizing the masses is a simple thing.
A lot has changed in a year for Van Den Broek and his three bandmates that comprise the full Yellow Days live experience. Touring behind a strong EP and LP (recorded in a garden shed for acoustics) —plus a handful of new songs as fans wait for a proper follow up—the outfit is now making its way into the finer print of music festivals across the globe.
Van den Broek only started uploading songs to SoundCloud three years ago with small tours to support his work. This week the band plays the 2019 Coachella Music & Arts Festival, where they’ll return for a 3:05 p.m. set this Friday in the Mojave Tent. That alone is an upward trajectory strapped to a rocket ship; the exposure of being one of the first bands to play on Coachella’s annual YouTube live stream can do wonders for your global name recognition.
On Monday night the band put its talents on display for a LOCALCHELLA gig—to another sold out Santa Ana crowd, this time at Downtown’s Yost Theater with opening set by rapper Maxo to warm up the crowd.
Yellow Days’ music is influenced as much by Ray Charles as it is Mac DeMarco and it shows in the woozy, drawn out way each track unfurls—first with a bit of lo-fi jazzy instrumentation before the power of Van den Broek’s voice weaves it’s way into the mix, pining for love and observing the human state in all of it’s emotional and social forms.
The sound of Yellow Days is the very definition of nostalgia; it can make you yearn for times you’ve never had. And if you’re into the sound, it’s easy for it to latch into your DNA, especially when you hear it live.
Switching between two guitars, songs like “The Way Things Change,” Holding On,” and “Your Hand Holding Mine” had the crowd wrapped up in the notes. The majority swayed slowly in place or stood completely still; many of the couples were holding hands, or each other.
The band aired its most popular song, the soaring “Gap in the Clouds,” with nearly all of the audience crooning loudly along. A successfully-stylized, sorta improvised cover of Etta James “I’d Rather Go Blind” followed.
The hazy evening had become a MOOD by the time the encore “Bag of Dutch” was aired, with the mellow vibes of Yellow Days seemingly promising sunnier things on the horizon.
Set list:
The Way Things Change
A Little While
Hurt in Love
That Easy
Holding On
So Terrified
Your Hand Holding Mine
What’s It All For
Gap in the Clouds
I’d Rather Go Blind (Etta James Cover)
The Tree I Climb
Nothing’s Going to Keep
How Can I Love You
Bag of Dutch
