BORNS @ The Complex 10.15 w/ Twin Shadow

Pop acts Twin Shadow and BORNS performed to a sold out crowd on Monday, Oct. 15. Anything below a shout was inaudible over the screams of the crowd, even between sets. The crowd filled in from wall to wall early enough to catch a killer set from opener Twin Shadow and frontman George Lewis Jr. was all smiles and thank-you’s in response. Between ’80s ballads and face-melting guitar solos, Lewis was eager to express his gratitude to the crowd and—as it seems to be the theme with Salt Lake shows—declare his surprise at their enthusiasm. To those unfamiliar with Twin Shadow’s recent history, Monday’s show might have seemed par for the course. But understanding Lewis’s journey—the bus accident that led to reconstructive hand surgery, the depression spiral and the eventual return to the stage in April—adds some context to his gracious spirit. Lewis rounded out his set with a crowd favorite and laid some solid groundwork for the main act.

When BORNS took the stage, it was to deafening cheers from a rowdy crowd. His set was packed full of crowd pleasers from his two studio albums and nearly every song was backed by a 2500 person chorus. When he left the stage, chants for his return started up almost immediately and his return was met with screams somehow louder than when he took the stage the first time. There wasn’t much left to choose from in the BORNS catalog for an encore, but instead of original tunes, BORNS sat down at the piano and rewarded the crowd with three very unexpected covers: Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Bennie and the Jets,” and David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.” Needless to say, the crowd went nuts. From there, BORNS launched into his final track of the night: his breakout single “Electric Love.” Hearing the song performed live from start to finish was doubly satisfying for some (speaking for myself here) who may have caught BORNS’s set at Bonanza earlier this year. A power outage left him finishing the song a-cappella back then (ironic, I know), but his set on Monday finished at full power.