On Sunday, February 5th, 2023, Mac Saturn gave the young teens of Empire Live Underground a show worth missing the Grammys. Opening with rising star, Billy Tibbals, the show kicked off to a roaring start.
Coming from England, then moving to L.A. in his teens, Billy Tibbals has been chasing his dreams of being the next rockstar. Drawing inspiration from The Beatles, David Bowie, and The Damned; Billy and his band has a very vintage style of rock-n-roll that really electrifies the stage. His hopes are to get the youth off their phones and back to enjoying each other in person. He has 3 singles available currently on streaming services and plans to release in first album in April.
The Billy Tibbals Band began the night strong and loud. With a style copied and pasted from a 70’s GQ magazine, Billy lead his sharply dressed band to an electric and energetic start. Things took a slow turn with a song titled “3am” about Tibbals’ younger sister. But it did not last for long as he really played his heart out for his potential new fan base. After the show, he was selling vinyls of his upcoming album, Stay Teenage, before it hits streaming services.
Mac Saturn, of Detroit, took the stage not soon after Billy’s 45 minute set. This was both their first national tour and their first time in Albany. They originally formed back in 2014 at a Christmas party and soon became a sextet of mixed instruments and vocals. They released a five song EP, Until the Money Runs Out, last August and plans to release a new single hopefully sometime later this year.
Keeping on the trend of vintage, Mac Saturn’s lead vocalist, Carson Macc, came out ice cold in a blazer his grandfather probably wore and rough 70s mullet. Though the crowd was small, they had the amplitude of a thousand screaming teens at Govball. Macc had them singing the lyric’s of “Ain’t Like You” back to them with ease.
Though Macc took frequent breaks off stage, it gave more time for guitarist, Mike Moody, to really rock the crowd with gut wrenching solos. They performed a cover of Charles Brown Mint Julep shortly before ending with their number one song, “Plain Clothes Gentleman.” They really held a powerful presence for their last song, really sucking the crowd in with phenomenal instrumentals and partying with the fans.
They continue their tour with another New York stop at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo on February 9th. Their tour ends in their home state of Michigan with two shows in Ann Arbor on the weekend of April 1st.
Mac Saturn Setlist: Diamonds, Paradiso, Persian Rugs, Boxcutter, Get on the Phone, Ain’t Like You, Sleep, Mint Julep, 5 Long Minutes, Mr. Cadillac, That’s Business, Plain Clothes Gentleman
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