Following the brunt of a sold-out US tour, Malcolm Todd totes an energy-filled second show in Los Angeles — an ode to the city where it all began for the 21-year-old artist.
“Chest Pain (I Love)” – Malcolm Todd
It’s not often you’ll walk into the Wiltern, its vibrant blue-green archways cascading overhead like the ones in a medieval castle, and hear a crowd of young, modish, grungy 21-year-olds dressed in Carhartt and beater tees screaming YG’s “FDT” at the top of their lungs.
Their voices are loud and their energy louder, eclipsing even the delicate cinema lights that hang above them and casting a ravenous glow onto what would be the rest of the night. They are excited and drunk and have turned the venue’s art deco staging into their own dimly lit mosh pot before the artist could even hit the stage.
Yet, when it comes to Malcolm Todd and his fans, one should always expect the unexpected.
More than three years into his career, Malcolm Todd has quickly gone from a local high school musician to an overnight hometown sensation – and this isn’t being said figuratively.
Following the 2022 release of his first EP Demos Before Prom, his song “Out of Bounds” became a viral hit, and he was instantaneously thrown into the pits of the industry. He began making TikToks and sharing more of his music with that comedic spark most sophomores in high school carry at the forefront. Yet, even in the quickness of fame, Todd not only avoided losing that boyish charm that made him a standout in his early years but has learned to embrace and invest it right back into his music.
It was a warm Tuesday night, a weeknight at that, and the second show in a series of three, yet the crowds making their way to the heart of Wilshire were just as eager and full as though it were a weekend. There’s a large backdrop with his name at the heel of the stage and an ivy arch standing behind his looming mic. As the lights dimmed and he made his way out, the light behind silhouetting his shadow across the screaming crowd, one could assume his opening to be just as effervescent and dramatic as his entrance.
But Todd is not an artist that can have his actions easily assumed. As though an invisible force was hovering above puppeteering the excited crowd, they erupted singing “Dance monkey, dance” in loud unison – the opening line to his track “Harry Styles” – and so began the rest of an unpredictable night at the Wiltern.
For over an hour and a half, Todd turned this iconic Los Angeles mainstay into his own house party.
He began the set with his self-titled album, singing songs such as the jazzy “Make Me A Better Man” and the electrically bewitching “Cheer Me On.” The march-in-step drumming of “Doll” rapped against the Wiltern floors and Todd’s delicate voice as he clamored love-sick and infatuated in “Who’s The Fool” struck the audience with a mellow quiet, seeping into the gold scaling of the walls. But like a toy waiting to be rewound up, Todd leaped with a guitar in hand and they were right back to jumping and dancing, hands swaying in the air with the rare occasion of a phone in its midst.
It was not too long into the set that “Bleed” – his collaboration with friend and fellow artist Omar Apollo – began to play. A wave of bopping heads and sound-defying voices echoed throughout the venue in hopes Apollo would come out. He did not. Instead, Todd asked the crowd to sing his collaborator’s lines. They listened. He swung his hips and flared his arms on stage as they reiterated Apollo’s “relax” back at him with the same ecstatic fervor.
The quintessential soul of a Malcolm Todd concert is the abrupt dance moves and ad-libs that make their way from stage to crowd. As he transitioned from self-titled to his 2024 album Sweet Boy, Todd began to talk about the surreality of where he was standing and what he was witnessing – him on stage looking at one of three sold-out shows, animated faces staring right back at him. It was obvious he was fever-struck with elation, chuckles made up of slight nerves interspersing between each song, but so were the concertgoers. Yet, like any reasonable way to waft away those nerves, you add jokes to the mix. Following a stripped-down version of his song “You Owe Me,” he introduced his band by encouraging the crowd to repeat their names after him.
“Say bonjour, Charlie,” Todd exclaimed at the end, referencing his drummer Charlie Ziman. The crowd eagerly followed suit, and Charlie replied with a quiet, “Hey.” As though that comedic spirit was second nature, Todd laughed and noted he thought his bandmate could only speak French because of how quiet he was. Laughter ensued.
The show continued in the same manner: Song, comic ad-lib, crowd cheer, and repeat. Friendship spearheaded the concert, both on stage and in the audience. At one point, Todd covered the Crosby, Stills, and Nash & Young song, “Our House,” and a warmness washed over everyone.
Phone lights swarmed up in the air. People swayed side by side and one group of college-aged boys even held each other close, toasting to friendship with a hug mid-song. One fan even shared that as the lights dimmed and he picked up the guitar, “It felt like I was melting. He let us enjoy that moment together.”
It’s fair to say that Malcolm Todd, albeit still making a name for himself, knows exactly who he wants to be as a musician.
He is unapologetically himself on stage, mastering an aspect of music that can come off as difficult for most. Malcolm Todd is fun. He is lively. He is unafraid to be honest in front of his fans and that’s a feature the crowd leaned into. By the set’s end, with confetti fluttering overhead and the guitar riff of “Roommates” consuming the room, the crowd danced with everything they had in them.
A farewell, perhaps, to this nearly two-hour moment shared between artist and listener, or rather a “see you later” to an experience they’ll try to endure once again.
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