“What Happened to the Beach? : Declan McKenna’s Best Tour Yet”

Photo Credit: Audrey Jones, Lumix Digital Camera / Tangent Zine

Most known for his hit song “Brazil”, Declan McKenna played the last leg of his 2024-2025 tour last night on November 20 at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California. Although the opening band had a mellow and melancholy feel, as soon as McKenna came to the stage, the atmosphere almost instantly exceeded to a level of words that cannot even be expressed. Eager to discover which song he would choose to open the show, the crowd buzzed with anticipation and anxious excitement.

For exactly ninety minutes and not a second more, I have never seen an audience livelier than this one. Each song had every person jumping in the air and singing their hearts out. However, the crowd went ballistic when he performed a few of his top hits: Brazil, Why Do You Feel So Down, and British Bombs. Throughout the show, one thing that stood out to me was the artist’s vocal capabilities. There was no difference in his voice between listening to his performance on a music platform compared to his voice in concert. This came as quite a shock to me as nowadays music is full of autotune and special effects, but Declan Mckenna had none of that. From a mix of rock and pop, this was a show I will never forget. Truly an out-of-body experience.