Concert Review: Magdalena Bay at ACL Weekend Two

The rising synth-pop duo delivered a magical performance on Saturday for ACL’s second weekend, complete with creative set pieces and dynamic energy befitting such a unique act.

Written by Valeria Mota

Photo by McKenna Sefcik

With their idiosyncratic style and imaginative visuals, Floridian Magdalena Bay has taken the world by storm with its second studio album, Imaginal Disk. Made up by singer Mica Tenenbaum and multi-instrumentalist Matt Lewin, the duo has been a fixture of the synth-pop scene for almost eight years, but the ambitious fusion of electronic rock and dance pop of Imaginal Disk catapulted the collective into the mainstream. Magdalena Bay has continued the Imaginal Disk momentum with TV show appearances and tour dates. The duo graced the Lady Bird stage for ACL’s Weekend 2 Saturday lineup to share their creative production and colorful execution.

Elaborate set pieces that matched Imaginal Disk’s imaginative hallucinations adorned the grandstand. The synths were decorated with colorful coral reefs; a red box stood at the center of the stage behind papier-mâché clouds; and a screened mirror topped with detailed angel wings stood to the right of the stage. At 5:29 p.m., a minute earlier than promised, the synth-pop duo strutted on stage. “What’s up ACL?!” Tenenbaum yelled, receiving excited shrieks from the crowd. The space-like synths from “Image” immediately began, kicking off Magdalena Bay’s energetic and vibrant set. 

As the backing band members coolly played their instruments, Tenenbaum confidently paraded around the stage, donning a loose, satin blue outfit with futuristic sunglasses. Lewin effortlessly shredded his electric guitar while the backing screen showed the album’s titular Imaginal Disk: a CD bordered by silver corals spinning in a blue sky. The performance’s visuals constantly changed throughout and occasionally featured a red, flower-like character dancing in front of a wavy black and white checkered background. “Alright, let’s get crazy!” Tenenbaum shouted as she jumped, getting the audience to pump their hands to the beat of the groovy “Image.” The frontwoman textured her singing with dramatic hand expressions and head banged enthusiastically to the song’s drumming outro.

The introductory instrumentals for the duo’s seductive track, “Secrets,” began as Tenenbaum introduced the collective and the song title. Fans at the barricade excitedly jumped to the song’s chorus, and the entire crowd whooped when Tenenbaum whipped out her portable piano and expertly executed some riffs. Tenenbaum screamed at the track’s conclusion, “No secrets anymore!” only amping up the audience’s energy.

The duo immediately began the catchy intro to one of Imaginal Disk’s biggest hits, “Death & Romance.” The audience shrieked in recognition, with Lewin’s bouncy guitar riffs accompanying Tenenbaum’s earnest singing. Both the screen and the mirror showed lava lamp-like visuals as Tenenbaum took off her sunglasses and revealed her light blue makeup covering the top half of her face. Even though the crowd shouted in approval when Tenenbaum played the keys, some festivalgoers commented that the crowd was “not turning up as they should.” The fans' fervor did grow throughout the set, and some even started humming the intro to “Death & Romance”’s following track in Imaginal Disk, “Fear, Sex.” When “Fear, Sex”’s twinkly intro eventually kicked in, fans screamed in delight, with the screen and mirror showing “Death & Romance”’s music video in the background. The song saw Tenenbaum’s most passionate vocals of the evening, standing on top of the red box at the center of the stage. As the tune concluded, Lewin stepped to the center wearing a red flowered mask, the same as the one featured in the supporting visuals. He appeared to “shut” Tenenbaum off, and as Tenenbaum crouched down, the screen showed a CD being inserted into a woman’s forehead, mimicking Imaginal Disk’s album cover. The crowd cheered in recognition as the Miami natives prepared to play the glittery “Vampire in the Corner.” Soon, Tenenbaum rose wearing a sunflower headpiece, yellow petals surrounding her face. She played into her flower character and mimicked a wilted flower as she sang, “I hang my head down / But the bees do their buzz.” The crowd joined in to exclaim, “My god! I think I might’ve loved you too much.” Tenenbaum ripped the petal headpiece off to belt out the song’s last chorus and playfully sat on the red box as the opening beat to “Watching T.V.” faded in. 

“Too much watching T.V. / It’s gonna rot you from the inside out,” Tenenbaum sang as the crowd followed along. Lewin stayed put behind his coral-reef keyboard, still wearing his guitar. Stylized blue TV static flickered on the screen as Tenenbaum delivered the dreamy tune, perfectly hitting the bridge’s high notes. An improvised vocal run earned her some whoops from the crowd, making the singer smile. Soon enough, the low synths from “Tunnel Vision” started crawling in, causing fans to excitedly shriek in recognition. Tenenbaum swayed to the majority of the song and fervently jumped around the stage when the closing thumping synths kicked in, getting the crowd to wave their hands with her. The singer sat behind the red box to let drummer Nick Villa show off his skills with an impressive drum solo, and Tenenbaum stepped back on top of the box wearing a paper-mache mask of a yellow sun with a sad expression. She theatrically waved her hands around, emphasizing the mask’s expressed agony as the track played out and the audience’s audible thrill increased. 

After “Tunnel Vision” concluded, Tenenbaum daintily walked off stage and Lewin suavely played a guitar solo accompanied by a twinkling melody, maintaining his stoic expression. A big blue eye watched the crowd from the screen and mirror, and the festivalgoers applauded as the solo dwindled to a close. Tenenbaum strutted back on stage in a new costume, a red outfit adorned with planets and moons. She skipped around as she sang the lyrics to the playful “Chaeri” and danced around the stage while Lewin and the band expertly improvised on their instruments. The improv abruptly stopped, and the song’s regular beat resumed, allowing Tenenbaum to give the audience instructions. “Alright, we’re going to try something different now,” Tenenbaum announced, and told the audience to keep on singing “no Lewiner what.” The frontwoman led an enthusiastic call and response for the track’s outro: “3, 4 down to the floor / Lose control a little more.” Tenenbaum continued to sing the rest of the lyrics afterwards, but the festivalgoers faithfully stuck to the lyrics they were taught until the song ended. Tenenbaum even came down to sing to loyal fans at the barricade, with the girl directly in front of Tenenbaum looking absolutely bewildered as Tenenbaum blissfully belted out the last lines of the track.

Photo courtesy of Dusana Risovic

As the audience’s cheers dwindled, the hazy synths from the rocking track “That’s My Floor” crawled in, eliciting gasps of excitement from fans. The crowd shouted the song title with Tenenbaum during the chorus and sang along to the spirited “La la la la”s. “I want more!” Tenenbaum demanded. “Go give me more!” The audience grew more excited as they eagerly waved their arms to the concentrated Lewin’s excellent guitar solo. The crowd was still cheering as the jaunty bassline and synths began for the disco-inspired “Cry For Me.” The band remained as laser-focused as they had been for the entirety of the performance, and Tenenbaum took a moment to close her eyes and sway to the tune’s catchy beat. Tenenbaum’s passionate performance only elevated fans’ elation as they screamed the song’s chorus: “Share a little kiss, and that's forever / Think of love when you remember me.” The singer quickly skipped off the stage as Lewin and the supporting band jammed out for a bit, with the crowd nodding along to the magical instrumentals. As quickly as she left, Tenenbaum came back out to the stage wearing a sheer cape adorned with light orange flames, the exact one she wears in the “That’s My Floor” music video. The frontwoman theatrically waved her cape around while still belting the song’s longing lyrics with the visuals displaying dynamic, galactic-like spirals.

Tenenbaum abruptly walked off the stage again when the tune concluded, and Lewin took the moment to softly play the intro to the intimate “Angel on a Satellite.” The moment was soon over when Tenenbaum took center stage again, wearing a white, mesh dress with feathered angel wings, which the crowd adored. Lewin began playing the chords for the dynamic “Ballad of Matt & Mica.” Tenenbaum and the crowd joyfully swayed along to the track’s danceable beat and chanted the chorus’s memorable “Bang bang!” along with Tenenbaum. “Thank you ACL for a beautiful show!” Tenenbaum yelled into her mic, with the crowd cheering louder than they had before. Soon enough, Tenenbaum picked up her white electric guitar to play the band’s latest single, “Second Sleep.” “Second sleep is calling out to me,” Tenenbaum sang softly, though the festivalgoers opted for shouting the line instead. The screen showed a moving city skyline as Tenenbaum encouraged fans to sing along to the song’s lighthearted “La la la”s and snap their fingers along to the track’s bridge.

The crowd’s cheers stayed elevated as Tenenbaum introduced the last song of the set, the optimistic “The Beginning.” Tenenbaum had shed her angel wings by this point, allowing her to freely skip along the stage. There was an abrupt stop when only the keyboard was audible, which seemed to take Tenenbaum aback before the instruments’ volume resumed. “There you go!” Tenenbaum exclaimed, not letting the technical difficulty disrupt her joyful dancing. The song had the set’s most colorful visuals, with ever-changing swirls and shapes flashing on the screen. “We’ve made this moment… eternal!” Tenenbaum screamed into the microphone, standing up in the now iconic red box one last time. “I want to see you all go fucking crazy!” Tenenbaum yelled to the crowd, and fans did not hesitate for a second to excitedly jump along to the chorus. The set concluded with loud hollers and praises from the crowd, with Tenenbaum cutesily running off the stage after reminding fans to have fun. Lewin confidently exited the stage while Villa threw his drumsticks into the crowd and gave a lucky barricader the show’s setlist.

With eccentric visuals and spirited dancing, Magdalena Bay’s ACL Weekend 2 performance was nothing short of vibrant. The creative set production and visuals lured festivalgoers into the world of Imaginal Disk and easily made fans more enamored with the duo’s distinctive delivery. The pair’s idiosyncrasies have only been perfected over time, and fans clearly cannot wait to see what Magdalena Bay delivers next.