Jasmine Liang
Arts & Entertainment Editor
On Jan. 30, UC Santa Barbara’s (UCSB) Associated Students (AS) Program Board hosted a winter concert at The Hub with performances from headliner Malcolm Todd and openers Kyla & Sicilia.
Malcolm Todd is a rapidly-growing artist who debuted in 2022 with his EP “Demos Before Prom,” but he’s most known for his viral songs “Roommates” (2023) and “Chest Pain (I Love)” (2024). He currently boasts over 4.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Singer Kyla Becker and guitarist Sicilia Holmes are a UCSB student music duo who cover a variety of genres. Their setlist for the night included a mix of modern, nostalgic, and older songs with “Kill Bill” by SZA, “Linger” by The Cranberries, and “Don’t Let Me Down” by The Beatles.
Even though this was their first performance together, their sound was smooth and enticing, and Kyla encouraged students to sing along with her. The audience received them well, excitedly calling out when they recognized one of the covers and singing loudly alongside the duo.
During their performance, some people shouted “I love you Sicilia” in unison, and someone even FaceTimed Sicilia’s mom so that she could watch her daughter on stage. The opening act was something special only UCSB students were able to see.
In the moments between sets, the air was thick with anticipation. Malcolm Todd’s support on campus was evident by the event’s fast-selling tickets and the numerous fans in the crowd, such as the students who had accidentally matched “I [heart] Malcolm Todd” shirts. Two other attendees told The Bottom Line that they had waited in line since 4 p.m. — four hours before doors opened — and one of them would be seeing Todd for the third time in concert. From the crowd, another student called out that they had waited since 12 p.m.
For someone who never attended college, Malcolm Todd leapt onto stage with UCSB’s party spirit. The band erupted into their well-loved songs “Earrings” and “4me 4me.” If his stumbling across the stage wasn’t enough to go by, Todd soon announced, “I’m feeling buzzed. I just turned 21 so that shit’s illegal — legal.” The crowd cheered, so he yelled, “I should take a shot!”
The entire performance was a series of spontaneous decisions and interactions. Todd reached across the barrier into the screaming body of students multiple times, switched up the planned setlist (which already had “(Malcolm slow cover?)” written on it), and played the iCarly theme song. Coincidentally, both Kyla & Sicilia and Malcolm Todd covered “Birds of a Feather” by Billie Eilish.
Early in his performance, Todd also asked students what their plans were for after the show. A bunch of people earnestly screamed locations or times, but Todd told them to DM (direct message) him after the show. “I’m sleeping here tonight but I don’t know where,” he said, implying that he would crash somewhere after continuing to party.
Near the end of the show, Todd declared that he would, impromptu, perform a song that he and his bandmates had been developing on the way to UCSB. The rest of his band clearly wasn’t ready for this announcement, and they pulled him aside to discuss. They seemed to relent, however, as when they came back to the audience, they realized Todd’s promise.
This new, unreleased song started as a slow and steady beat that built up momentum with the lyrics: Do you wanna know? / Know, know about me. / I swear, you can take control / control of my heartbeat. Todd even revealed that the second verse of the song would be sung by a featured artist that “you’ll be stoked to hear.” Even a glimpse at his new music had students eager for more.
As everyone weaved through the doors of the UCen, one student excitedly turned to another and said, “All this for $15?!” It’s safe to say that UCSB hearts Malcolm Todd.