The McLovins – World Café Live 2/22/13

A Friday night stop at WXPN’s World Café Live proved to be more than worthwhile, with an energetic crowd, fabulous food and drinks, and of course – an extremely talented band.  The passion that emulated from The McLovins was overwhelming.  What made their talent even more unbelievable?  The fact that these four guys haven’t even hit 20 years old yet.

The McLovins are Jason Ott, Jake Huffman, Justin Berger and Atticus Kelly: a group of teenagers from Connecticut.  Founded in 2008, The McLovins started off as a group of excessively talented 14 year olds.  Taking a break from all of the dancing, I was able to have a quick chat with a few of their friends that had made the trek to the Philadelphia show.  They had informed me that just a few days earlier, the band had been down in Florida, performing at the AURA Music and Arts Festival.  Apparently, it was merely one of many stops they have been making along the East coast.  Not too shabby for such a young group.

The McLovins made sure that their stop in Philadelphia was one to be remembered.  For starters, their talent goes beyond their years.  Not to mention, the band was in the groove of playing (jam style, think Phish) when Jake Huffman began to sing from behind his drums.  This was the first live performance I had ever seen where the drummer was also the lead singer.  However, giving credit where credit is due, I did notice each and every member pitching in on the vocals at different parts of the set.  Bassist Jason Ott even took the lead in singing their encore song, which was a cover of The Doors’ “Break On Through [To The Other Side]”.  There were other small details to pick up on, such as the bass Ott was working magic on happened to be fretless.

Other than the fact that they are each individually talented at what they do, their chemistry together is a force to be reckoned with.  From time to time, you could catch the incredulous looks they would throw one another, or a head nod to cue the other in.  Over the past five short years, The McLovins have matured, not only physically, but musically as well.  Being that they are still only teenagers and creating the music I had witnessed, I cannot wait to hear what their future compositions could possibly sound like.