Review: Borito at Levontin 7, Tel Aviv

Q&AMusic

Jul 24

☆ BY BRITT JACOBSON ☆

WALKING INTO LEVONTIN 7 — an intimate underground venue hidden beneath a popular Tel Aviv breakfast restaurant, a stage full of pink balloons was the first sight. The energy in the room was high — attendees were loudly chatting in Hebrew and smoking indoors, despite all of the signage to the contrary. Not surprising, as the only rule enforcer at this venue is the owner, who was (evidently) not in attendance. This show was one of several celebrating the venue’s birthday, and the name of the venue is, hilariously enough, just its street name and number.

After entering the most unassuming venue you’ve ever seen, you’re greeted with a ticket desk and merch table. There, a friend of the band’s was gifting every entrant a green Borito sticker. After accepting his offering, I proceeded to the main room of the venue just as the band was climbing onstage. Lead singer and guitarist Yael S. Copeland led the charge, followed by drummer Shahar Levi, bassist Yoni Deutsch, and keyboardist Sivan Tzuf Dahan. Copeland said a quick hello to the audience, thanking old and new fans and friends for joining them, but the band didn’t waste any time jumping into their first song of the set.

The catchy, bubbly sounds of Borito coupled with a pink and blue lit stage — and the aforementioned pink balloons — created an environment where it quickly became impossible not to dance. A friend who came to the show with a freshly broken toe and crutches was moving and grooving, as was the rest of the room. Copeland was the epicenter of it all, gripping a teal guitar that was appropriately colorful for the bouncy and bright music that was being played on it.

The setlist was an impressive mix of tracks from the band’s 2021 album, What We Have Now, and more recent unreleased tracks. One track that felt especially noteworthy was “30,” its lyrics grappling with growing up and the expectations that come with leaving your twenties behind. This beautiful song remains unreleased on streaming services for now, but I and no doubt other fans will be anxiously awaiting it.

Copeland, Levi, Deutsch, and Dahan all played naturally together. It was easy to feel the friendship and love between the four of them, particularly in the little glances they shared or the intimate joking with the audience. It is not easy to garner a crowd’s attention with unfamiliar new music, but Borito succeeded in fully capturing the room’s attention. Part of this can be attributed to the unique sound created by the melding of Copeland’s voice and songwriting, along with the incredible instrumentalism displayed by the rest of the group. A fun and unique addition were some plastic whistles, which was a first for me at a show. It worked well with the performance, and truly epitomized Borito’s quirky indie sound.

Midway through the performance, special guest singer Ishay Berger, formerly of the band Useless ID, joined to sing first one of his own tracks, “Little Boats,” or in Hebrew, “סירות קטנות.” His song was a bit more punk relative to Borito’s music, but it was a welcome addition to the performance. He also joined for another unreleased Borito track called “Keys,” which talks about the feeling of being a woman and being afraid to walk alone at night. It is a beautifully melancholic track that touches on an unfortunately relatable feeling.

As the show wrapped up, I couldn’t help but notice an older gentleman standing right in front of the stage. He was wearing a Borito T-shirt and matching button, and I recognized him from another show of theirs a month prior. He graciously shared with me that his name is Meir, and that he goes to as many of Borito’s shows as he can. He shared that prefers to support female-fronted bands in the Tel Aviv indie scene and likes Borito’s music because it is “pleasant to the ear.” Meir, a true stan, ranked this show in their top two performances he has seen. As this is only the second show of theirs that I had attended, I would have to agree with him there. Borito is an incredible indie tour de force, and we can’t wait for the day fans can see them perform in the US.

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We couldn’t be more stoked to have Suriel Hess as our new headliner for our upcoming LA show 🤩 🫶 Not gonna lie, us & Notorious Noise kinda went OFF with this line up & you’re not gonna wanna miss it - ticket link in bio 🎫