Bright, psychedelic future in store for Toro y Moi

About an hour before the fan-proclaimed chillwave artist Toro y Moi’s concert began, doorman for the Bishop Kieran Blackwood announced to the crowd of young adults that the concert had sold out.

“I wasn’t going to be able to come, but then my professor cancelled my morning class,” Jory Kleemann said. Kleemann was one of the people turned away while trying to purchase a ticket at the door Tuesday night.

“I was going to meet my cousin and boyfriend, but they had already got their tickets. I’m not too struck by the news,” she said.

Blackwood said this is the second time Toro y Moi has sold out at the Bishop, and he has had to turn away patrons both times.

Fans say the artist has increased in popularity and is definitely growing, especially after Toro won a “Best New Artist” award from Pitchfork.

Attendee Chelsea Freistroffer said her boyfriend, Schad Bollenbacher, was the reason she began listening to the artist’s music.

Freistroffer said seeing Toro in concert at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago really helped, as well.

“I had to listen to it more than once to really appreciate it,” Freistroffer said. “I find with good music and new things you have to listen to them more than once to fully absorb the sound.”

Bollenbacher described Toro y Moi as creating an “awesome chillwave album,” referring to the artist’s premier album. Toro y Moi’s performance opened with colored lights and psychedelic swirls on the screen behind the stage, and fans immediately began dancing and grooving along to the beats. The small venue’s crowd was large, making it difficult to move.

Bollenbacher described the Toro’s newest album “Underneath the Pine” as having a “different sound.” He said the artist’s sound is constantly changing and evolving.
Blackwood predicted that Toro y Moi will likely end up increasing his fanbase and move from simply young college students younger than 21 to more of an early to mid-20s age group.

Blackwood said if this happens, he could see the artist performing in Indianapolis as opposed to small venues such as the Bishop.