Yellow Days mesmerize crowd at the Sinclair

Yellow Days
featuring MorMor

November 16, 2018 at the Sinclair

The line outside The Sinclair spread around the block. Everyone seemed thrilled to be close to George van den Broek, the 19-year old behind Yellow Days. Once inside the packed venue, the eagerness of the crowd grew even more to the point of becoming almost palpable. The golden lights on stage made a sudden yet elegant transition to a hazy blue as the members of the opening act MorMor plugged in their instruments and started to hypnotize the crowd. Little did everyone know that they would do such an outstanding job of setting the atmosphere with their romantic and moody indie-rock vibes.

After MorMor finished their last song, it wasn’t even 10 minutes before van den Broek and his band were getting up on stage. Wearing off-yellow colored overalls, he looked up with hazy eyes to the public and whispered a modest “Hi” before kicking things off with ‘The Way Things Change,’ one of his latest singles. I was impressed to see so many people in the crowd screaming the lyrics and dancing to the natural groove of the first couple of songs. ‘So Terrified of Your Own Mind’ was when the real magic began. The singer’s euphonic and raspy voice resonated through The Sinclair while he stroked delightful and emotional melodies with his baby-blue guitar. The crowd was no longer singing along; they were entranced by the graceful quality of the music while the rays of the dimmed lights and the smoke on stage created an otherworldly atmosphere.

The style of Yellow Days has been slowly blending into a type of modern jazz-infused rock, which was represented through several songs during the show. The band played with such effortless elegance in ‘What’s It All For’ which made it impossible for the crowd to ignore. George van den Broek also showed his vintage soul roots when he covered Etta James’ ‘I’d Rather Go Blind,’ which I believed to be the highlight of the night. The crowd cheered blissfully as the band gave their most energetic and passionate performance while the 19-year-old sang his heart out.

Van den Broek has a great presence on stage. He made the audience laugh several times with cheeky inquiries like ‘anyone out there smoke weed?’ He really gave people what they were looking for: excellent music and a good time. His talent is unquestionable; he is one of those artists that emulates vocals reminiscent of those on the actual recordings.

The band said their goodbyes by playing the joyous and reverb-filled track ‘A Bag of Dutch’ from their album Is Everything Okay In Your World? After a long round of applause, the singer waved happily for a couple of seconds, unplugged his guitar and got off stage. Yellow Days left everyone with a smile on their faces, and left me speechless by the superior quality of music I had just experienced. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for him. Only time will tell, but his potential for musical grandeur is unmistakable.