With matching costumes, clever bits and upbeat melodies, the dream pop duo The Two Lips delivered an upbeat performance Tuesday night at The City Center.
The Two Lips are an indie-pop act based in Los Angeles, made up of best friends Jewlz and Andrea. The duo is known for their dream pop and bedroom pop sound. They have over 150,000 followers on TikTok and are currently on tour across North America.
The Star Course Concert Committee, a student-run organization that promotes and produces concerts in Champaign-Urbana, put the concert on.
“My friends are in Star Course and convinced me to come,” said Ava Creekmur, sophomore in Education. “I’m excited to hear a new artist live, and I’ve been listening to the music before to prepare.”
The show kicked off with opener Tala Silva, who got the crowd swaying with her soft music and high-pitched vocals.
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Following the opener was a 20-minute break before the main act. Rohan Aulakh, freshman in Business, got involved with Star Course because his older sister thought it would be a good fit for him. As a member of the security staff, he rotated around the venue to ensure the crowd’s safety.
“The show has been really good so far,” Aulakh said. “Tala Silva was really great. I was just as impressed with the band as I was with Tala herself. She could sing really well, and the band members really seemed like they knew what they were doing.”
At 8:30 p.m., The Two Lips came on stage in front of a sea of phones and cheers of audience members.
“Champaign, are you ready to play?” the duo said before immediately getting into their upbeat setlist.
The duo went on to perform many of their hits like “play,” “SICK!” and “clue,” cleverly riffing off of each other while introducing songs and incorporating energetic choreography into their performance.
In the middle of their set, the duo brought out an omnichord to play a special song, “happy for me,” written for The Two Lips and featuring Rebecca Sugar, creator of the cartoon “Steven Universe.” The lullaby-sounding song allowed audience members to catch their breath between high-energy dance songs. After finishing the song, The Two Lips urged audience members to hug their friends, and many people in the crowd did just that.
Following “happy for me,” The Two Lips picked up where they left off with more upbeat songs, including a cover of “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt and a new unreleased song that the Champaign show got to hear first.
Salvatore Romero, junior in LAS, was familiar with The Two Lips before coming to see them perform live.
“I thought it was really beautiful and cute,” Romero said. “I loved the dancing and the outfits, and the way they engaged with the crowd. It boosted my spirit.”
After both singers and their drummers left the stage, incessant calls from the audience for one more song brought them back for a two-song encore. The last song, “Favorite Apple,” had the crowd jumping and dancing with high energy, giving The Two Lips a proper sendoff to the rest of their tour.
