“Vegas, I wanna see your tongue!”
Fair enough.
Witness thousands of mouths opening up and saying “Ahhhhhh!” in unison.
Only it wasn’t enough — not for the shirtless, breathless, 28-year-old British bulldog of a singer bellowing said command from the PH Live stage on Tuesday night.
And so Yungblud scanned the crowd for anyone refusing to heed his words — there weren’t many in this sold-out concert hall. An offending party was spotted, though: a dad down in front.
“I don’t give a (expletive) how old you are!” he thundered, pointing at the man. “Show me your tonsils!”
Dad obliged, and satisfied, Yungblud (Dominic Harrison) flashed a smile nearly as wide as the stage he was sweating all over and then launched into “Loner,” one of his signature tunes, which doubles as a mission statement of sorts.
“I got no want for the quiet life … give me a taste of the riot life,” Harrison sang/howled, his voice leaving his lungs like a jetliner at takeoff. “ ’Cause I’d rather be a martyr than grow tomatoes.”
So what does he seek to grow?
Namely, rock’s presence in a pop-, hip-hop- and country-dominated music mainstream.
And he’s making progress: Last time Harrison was in town in August 2023, he headlined Brooklyn Bowl.
Three years later, he packed a venue twice that size.
This heightened career momentum dates to last summer: In June, he dropped his fourth album, “Idols,” a grandiose rock ’n’ roll call to arms shrink-wrapped in leather. The following month, he received another profile boost after delivering a stirring, knockout cover of Black Sabbath’s “Changes” at the heavy metal pioneers’ farewell show in their native Birmingham, England.
Harrison revisited that power ballad for the ages once again Tuesday, dedicating the song to the late Ozzy Osbourne, noting how Sabbath had once played the same venue decades ago, back when it was the Aladdin Theater.
In addition to that showstopper, he’d give another nod to hard rock royalty when performing “My Only Angel,” his collaboration with Aerosmith.
It’s this embracing of rock’s past while serving as its aspirational present that defines Yungblud’s backward-looking, forward-thinking ethos.
In some ways, he’s like a modern-day Billy Idol, employing a whole lot of punk ’tude — not to mention that Hall of Fame sneer — and rock ’n’ roll bluster in the service of well-crafted pop songs.
Opening with nine-minute epic “Hello Heaven, Hello,” it took all of 90 seconds for Harrison to doff his vest and bare his chest, working the crowd like a human cattle prod.
“Are you crazy?” he wondered of the audience four tunes in. “Good, ’cause I’m Yungblud and I’m crazy. This is British rock ’n’ roll — and we’re mad.”
The band ripped through a 13-song, 90-minute set with barely a pause, Harrison smoking cigs, hurling endless cups of water at the crowd and occasionally crab-walking on stage, all while giving loud, leering voice to songs that turned self-deprecation into acts of defiance (“fleabag”) and declared “War” on polite sensibilities.
Prior to “Lowlife,” Harrison encouraged crowd members to get up on one another’s shoulders, cheering on as dozens of couples immediately did so.
“More! More! More! More! More!” he enjoined.
And really, that’s what everything boiled down to on this night — the songs, the stage presence, the true essence of Yungblud.
“More!”
Contact Jason Bracelin at [email protected] or 702-383-0476. Follow @jasonbracelin76 on Instagram.