MTV kicked off the Grammy’s weekend with its annual Artists To Watch concert at Los Angeles’ House of Blues.
Brooklyn-based artist, Hoodie Allen stole the show with an electrifying performance, as he took advantage of an audience still buzzing from MisterWives’ set. Shawn Mendes, the 16-year-old Canadian with a guitar and a quiff also headlined. Allen who, at 26, was one of the older acts on show Thursday, performed with the kind of confidence that many artists fake but few actually possess. The rapper-singer behaved as though he deserved the screams of the tween girls in the audience in an evening that started small and hit its peak right in the middle of “Dumb For You.”
X-Factor contestant, Bea Miller began the evening with “Enemy Fire.” The peppy 15-year-old from New Jersey, who was accompanied by a lone guitarist, gave a self-assured show. With a great set of pipes and a huge smile, Miller belted out “Rich Kids” to a sea of iPhones and the girls attached to them. Miller was followed by Jacquie Lee. “The Voice” runner-up (also from New Jersey) was backed by a four-piece band as she ran through her set, which included a breathy ballad cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.” Looking like the littlest Kardashian in a black leather skirt and a black cropped sweater, Lee put in a solid performance which included “Tears Fall” – a song she co-wrote with Sia.
After a break, the evening’s MC, Sydney Sierota (from last year’s performers, Echosmith) introduced Ryn Weaver. Sounding somewhere between Florence Welch (of Machine fame) and Lana Del Rey, Weaver sang her own “Stay Low” to a mesmerized audience. The 22-year-old also impressed with an etherial cover of Norweigian artist, Susanne Sundfør’s “White Foxes.” Weaver paved the way for indie-pop band MisterWives to set fire to the night.
MisterWives were electric. Mandy Lee Duffy strutted around the stage as her four spots-and-stripes clad bandmates vibrated with energy. On stage presence alone, MisterWives blew the other artists out of the water when, about two-thirds of the way through their act, they launched into “Reflections,” sending their fans wild. The “Our Own House” singers set the scene for Hoodie Allen’s breathless performance, which included a cameo from special guest Max Schneider.
At one point, Jacquie Lee came out from backstage, for some reason, to throw handfuls of birthday cake at the audience. When Shawn Mendes took to the stage, the high-pitched screams of the audience would have been enough to deafen every dog in Los Angeles. Mendes had the audience in the palm of his hand as he performed an acoustic set which included fans’ favourites like “The Weight” and “Something Big.” Towards the end of his set, Mendes sat on the edge of the stage, with no mic, and sang straight to the audience. If he catches fire, Mendes could follow a long line of clean-cut tween-bait to huge success.
FKA twigs and Raury were also on MTV’s Artist to Watch list, but were not able to attend. Expect to hear more from MisterWives and Hoodie Allen, though.
