Artist Michael “Mk.gee” Gordon — pronounced “McGee” — took to the stage on Sept. 29 in Brooklyn at the borough’s historic Brooklyn Paramount, where he captivated the audience’s ears with his masterful guitarwork, moving vocals and innovative production.
Equipped with the boundary-pushing sound of his guitar, the musician has taken the indie music scene by storm in 2024. Inspired by a blend of R&B, 80’s synthpop and soft psychedelia, Mk.gee released his breakout debut album “Two Star & the Dream Police” in February to acclaim from fans and music icons alike.
Legendary guitarist Eric Clapton described the discovery of Mk.gee’s music as “the same when [he] first saw Prince,” and said that he’s “found things to do on the guitar that are like nobody else.” Mk.gee has been on the radar of artists such as Frank Ocean, Tyler, The Creator and John Mayer, and was recently reported to have been collaborating with Justin Bieber on some new music.
Emerging from the clouds of smoke machines, Mk.gee opened the concert with his album’s outro track, “Dream police.” His enigmatic appearance made him seem more like a musical wizard with the ability to do magic with his guitar, a sentiment that fans have already shared.
He performed each track off of “Two Star & The Dream Police,” and songs from the album such as “How many miles,” “You got it” and fan-favorite “Candy” displayed his versatility as a skillful guitarist, talented songwriter and aggressive vocalist.
The only track from his previous projects that he performed was “cz,” one of his most streamed songs outside of his debut album, the lead single off of his 2020 EP “A Museum Of Contradiction.” “I don’t usually do this one, but we’re gonna try it,” Mk.gee said as he performed a refreshed take on the sound of “cz,” substituting the fast tempo production of the studio recording for a slower take on it, with more influence from the guitar sound and production on “Two Star & The Dream Police.”
Mk.gee performed the fan-favorite upbeat track “DNM” four consecutive times. “DNM,” standing for “Dijon N Mike,” is named after Mk.gee’s close relationship with talented musician and longtime collaborator Dijon, who helped produce several tracks off of “Two Star & The Dream Police.”
With each playthrough of the song, Mk.gee left more and more lyrics for the audience to complete, eventually preceding the fourth go-around by telling the crowd, “I’m not singing it though.” Fans gladly accepted the task of singing the song for him, jumping to every lyric. This allowed Mk.gee to devote all his energy to guitar playing, ending each playthrough of “DNM” with a unique guitar solo that somehow got more energetic and passionate each time.
The night was seemingly capped off with the most popular track of his debut album, “Are You Looking Up.” Accompanied by a long and soft intro that slowly built up to the song’s recognizable guitar melody, the crowd met the track with immediate applause.
The stage emptied and the lights turned off, but a single note from a guitar kept ringing. To nobody’s surprise, Mk.gee and his band again came before the crowd for the encore, performing “Alesis,” another fan-favorite and arguably the most emotional track of “Two Star & The Dream Police.” To end the night on a higher note, Mk.gee played “Candy” a second time, leaving the crowd in a frenzy as he closed out an electrifying performance.
With an aggressive vocal performance that saw both Mk.gee and the entire crowd screaming the lyrics, the live performance was full of passion and infectious energy that filled the venue. Based on his current reception, he seems to be destined only for further greatness.
