MS MR

Ah, Coachella. Even if you’ve never been, you can imagine the experience of this gigantic US festival. Sunshine, crowds of hip young things, towering palms swaying in the desert breeze behind the stage- from which you hear the multilayered, sweetly haunting-yet-uplifting melodies of MS MR, the breakthrough synth-pop duo whose performance, frankly, encapsulates the endless-summer feeling of this festival perfectly.
While they are officially known as a two-piece, comprising of vocalist Lizzy Plapinger and keyboardist/ producer/ wizard Max Hershenow, they perform with a live guitarist and drummer (which is more than can be said for many similar acts in this genre), and which also improves the experience of seeing them by roughly 1000%. Throughout their set, Hershenow’s elevated, hip-rocking beats (and matching dance moves) compliment Plapinger’s enchanting vocals and playfully slinky on-stage grooves, offset by her unmistakable fluro-pink hair.
As MS MR have just one full album (2012’s Secondhand Rapture) under their belts, their set was short, but wonderfully sweet. It included the delicately catchy hit single Think of You and the anthemically rousing Hurricane, along with a very memorable cover of the Arctic Monkeys track Do I Wanna Know, which gives the original a run for its money in terms of rising drumbeats and sheer singalong-ability.
While their Coachella set was a daytime, sun-drenched performance with just the California desert scenery to serve as their backdrop and lightshow, having also seen MS MR perform at the intimate 930 Club in Washington, DC, I can happily report that in either environment, the band don’t disappoint when it comes to creating an atmosphere. Their combination of simplistic mono lighting over smoke and thrusting, melodic breaks set the scene for Plapinger’s voice to wash over the entire crowd, and get even the most dance-phobic cooler-than-thou audience members stamping their feet and wiggling their hips. As the friend I attended the concert with put it, “There’s a lot of bands making the same kind of music at the moment, but they really feel real”. Even more importantly, they are genuinely fun to see live.
Before their final song at Coachella, Hurricane, Hershenow addressed the crowd: “If you do know the words, please sing along with us, because it’s honestly the best feeling in the world”. In that moment, in that crowd, I couldn’t agree more.

I saw MS MR when they opened for Marina and the Diamonds at Park West a couple years ago, and I was thoroughly impressed with their performance. I had never heard anything about them before that night, and I honestly didn't know what to expect. But there was no need to worry: The band started playing so confidently, and they grabbed the crowd's attention right away, even though I could tell most of the people hadn't listened to their music before either (although there were two girls behind me who knew every word to all their songs). MS MR is very talented musically and lyrically. I was immediately drawn to the beats that the drummer produced and the music was unlike anything I've heard before. My favorite song that they played was "Bones," which is what they opened with. They were really excited to play their first single "Hurricane" for us. All of the band members were all so in tune with one another and they sounded awesome together. I'm so happy that they are getting recognized even more now, and I love their album Secondhand Rapture. I'm looking forward to hearing what MS MR puts out in the future, and I'm glad that I got to experience the beautiful music they have been making.

After seeing MS MR open for Grouplove I have an all-new appreciation for them.
I was waiting for months, hoping that they'd tour soon and when they did I immediately bought tickets to see them. From the first song they played, to the last, I was in awe. I've been to many shows in the past but this one was definitely one of the best.
Lizzy Paplinger, the lead singer, reminds me a little of Florence Welch. She has such a unique voice and she definitely knows how to perform. It's always nice to see artists who genuinely enjoy what they're doing. The whole band looked like they were having a great time with the audience. My favorite part of the show was when they covered an Arctic Monkeys song. Lizzy's voice was absolutely perfect and hearing her sing "Do I Wanna Know?" was possibly just as enjoyable as hearing Alex Turner sing it. Overall, MS MR put on a spectacular show. If you're thinking about seeing them, do it. You definitely won't regret it and you'll have a great time.

FReaking amazing, converted my unaware buddy to the fold, were blown away by a Firefly performance, in the hot Delaware sun where most acts wash out and lack their night time energy, seeing them at home in BK in a ravesque warehouse was even better!

Shocked at how good the openers were, having never heard of them in my Long Island Naivete, Y△CHT was amazing, San Fermin very different very cool

MS MR absolutely blew me away. The two of them have so much energy and chemistry on stage, and they sounded amazing. Better than the album. An added bonus is that they played a great mix of How Does It Feel/Secondhand Rapture. I'll be checking them out every time I get a chance from here on out

MSMR is very high energy and it makes for a fun concert even the opening bands Vérité and Jack Garratt were amazing the performances were amazing and Lizzy is the sweetest person if you meet her, i am definately attending another concert of theirs as it was one of the best nights of my life

Absolutely fabulous. Full of energy, good sound & fabulous voice. Loved every second. Liked new single- it went down a treat! Venue was good too- drinks a bit pricey though. Glad they'll be coming to Brighton in November. Will be booking tickets soon.

Really good show. Lizzy is an exceptional singer and performer (reminds me of Florence!). They seem so serious in their videos but aren't that way at all on stage. Funny, engaging and smiling the whole time. Sounded great and loved the show.

MS MR were absolutely brilliant.. WOW!!! So much energy ... They engaged the audience very humble. 100% ultimate performers would see them again in a heartbeat ... No complaints here ... Great venue as well ... A night well spent !!!!

I had never seen them live before tonight...amazing show!!! Their stage presence is awesome and they can really get the crowd going. She's also got a voice with some real soul behind it. Would definitely see them again!