November 15th, 2022
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There’s something quietly radical about choosing to release a performance that wasn’t supposed to make it out into the world. No pristine audio. No engineered perfection. Just a moment that insisted on existing anyway. 

Leo The Youth, an artist shaped by movement. Raised in Austin, sharpened through time in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, and now rooted in Las Vegas, his sound carries the fingerprints of transition. It’s genre-fluid but intentional, pulling from the emotional introspection of Mac Miller and the atmospheric honesty of Kid Cudi, while carving out something distinctly his own.

From the opening notes of “Sentient” through “Dance in the Rain,” “OP Freestyle,” “Lately,” and closing with “Circus,” the set unfolds less like a performance and more like a release. 

There’s a looseness to it, a kind of emotional elasticity, that you can’t script. Leo doesn’t just run through songs; he moves through states of being. One moment he’s reflective, almost inward. The next, he’s expansive, projecting something prosperous into the room. It’s that push and pull that gives the session its identity.

And then there’s the ending.

The outro doesn’t just close the set, it elevates it. As the band locks into a synchronized emotional current, keyboardist, Gerardo, steps into a solo that feels less like a performance and more like a translation. It carries the residue of everything that came before it, the gratitude, the tension, the release, and stretches it just long enough for it to land. 

Throughout the session, Leo The Youth leans into something that’s often easier said than done: vulnerability without collapse. There’s a quiet confidence in how he holds space for themes of mental health, growth, and self-awareness, never forcing them, never diluting them. Instead, they sit naturally between the lines, embedded in delivery, tone, and presence.

In a landscape that often prioritizes clarity over feeling, this session does the opposite. It chooses feelings first.

And somehow, that makes it even clearer.

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Follow:
IG: @Leotheyouth
IG: @Mivacollective

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SET LIST:
"Sentient"
"Dance In The Rain"
"Lately"
"OP Freestyle"
"Circus"

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MUSICIANS:‍
Vocalist: Brandon Morales
Bass/Guitar: Mathew Torres
Keyboard: Gerardo Vargas
Drummer: Aidan Dibble

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CREDITS:
Director/Editor: Gerardo Vargas
Mixed By: Gerardo Vargas
Location: Retroactive Records & Games