St. Andrew's Hall was packed to the rafters on Sunday night with a capacity crowd, eagerly awaiting current indie pop flavor of the month FUN. It was a hot, sweaty affair with barely enough room to move, let alone dance but the crowd was buzzing none the less. While FUN put on the requisite over-the-top pop spectacle, the unsung heroes of the night were openers Miniature Tigers. A smart, synthy-dream-pop product out of Brooklyn, the five-piece Miniature Tigers took the stage and grabbed the audience by their dancing shoes and didn't let go for the next 40 minutes.
Entirely outmatched by the lightshow and bubble filled spectacle unleashed by the headliners, MT held their own with an enthusiastic set of catchy pop jingles and slinky electro-grooves. Kicking off the set with "Female Doctor," off their latest disc Mia Pharoah, front man Charlie Brand set the tone for the evening and got the crowd head-bobbing and hip-shaking surprisingly quick. Brand alternated between songs with an acoustic guitar for some folky-jump numbers like "Boomerang" and went into full-on pop crooner mode on the dance hits like current single, "Sex on the Regular." My personal favorite, "Cleopatra" (also from Mia Pharoah) was a deceptively sharp slow jam-turned anthem that had the audience chanting along to the catchy refrain of "Don't tell me to f#ck off, I'm in love with you still."
By the end of the set, it was clear that the guys left it all out on the floor, yet they happily chatted up fans and admirers with sweaty hugs and handshakes back at the merch booth afterwards.
By the end of the set, it was clear that the guys left it all out on the floor, yet they happily chatted up fans and admirers with sweaty hugs and handshakes back at the merch booth afterwards.
