Shows 2023
I take iPhone photos at shows. I’m not afraid to admit this act (though maybe forgetting to turn off the flash is a misgiving).
Nonetheless, in this, I found the shows in 2023 came with the return of the art of live music. Artists have the profound ability to create a unique, distinct experience with their music, potentially completely divorced from the recorded counterpart. Whether through beefing up the instrumentation, expanding the visual spectacle, or, in my opinion, some of the most successful cases this year were artists striping back the recorded version to reveal an unambiguous, primal expression of the song (see Lana or Sampha below). It reminded me of a simple truth — songs are organic, growing, and intangible beings. Live music, much like a metaphor for life, demonstrates that change is a constant.
Ok. Enough reflective blubbering. Let’s get to talking about why live music freakin’ rocks. :)
January 13th — Tomberlin, Pale Hound (Solo): Baby’s All Right
It was packed in the sound room on a chilly friday night in january. It was a rescheduled show (when a wave of sickness, colds, covid was washing over NYC), and the energy in the room was both buzzing and patient. I had recently found Tomberlin’s music. Her April 2022 record, i don’t know who needs to hear this… contained focused songwriting, emotive fluctuation, and a dynamic soundscape of thoughtfully curated instrumentation and performances. You felt you were in the room with Tomberlin when listening to that record, and by god, hearing the record in an intimate room took me to a vulnerable and cathartic place.
February 15th — Maggie Rogers, Del Water Gap: Radio City Music Hall, The Feral JoyTour
Maggie was on a victory lap. The swelling success of her summer 2022 record, Surrender was starting to hit its stride during that early winter run. The songs which, on their recorded counterpart, blazed with spunk, and attitude were aptly fit for the radio city stage. A quasi-homecoming, and had special emotional resonance for me as I knew that both her (and her opener, Del Water Gap) graduated from undergrad in that very room. The stately ambiance of the hall was no match for the raw energy Maggie exuded. In a runtime that felt close to two hours, Maggie’s voice has never sounded stronger, clearer, and warmer. All that said, this show was but a preview for what I was told was an absolute barn burner which took place at forest hills just a few months later.
February 18th — Skrillex, Fred Again.., Four Tet: Madison Square Garden
So much anticipation built, sustained, and then released in the run-up to this show. On its face, there isn’t that much to unpack about what occurred that night. It was fairly minimal production, unstructured, and a long-haul flight. But, the run-up to the show? Now that might be a story for another day. In short, it’s an interesting case study for superstar artists who want to expand the playbook for what to do when they’ve already reached the “summit”. For these boys, planting anticipating (teasing tracks), creating scarcity (through a slew of underplays in packed clubs), and then when the energy and attention were at their apex, opening the floodgates for a blow-out event. This trio was so good at this, they were able to do it twice in the same year (I’m looking at you Coachella).
From the moment the doors of the Garden opened that saturday evening, Skrillex, Fred, and Four Tet began spinning records. I snuck in within the first hour, and, to be frank, I was almost going to leave. The sound in the venue was so awful. It was loud, tinny, metallic, and the vibes were just not there. Folks were looking around waiting for something to happen, and I was sinking to the idea that we were a little over our muster. However, something started to shift around the 1hr30min mark. As eager fans, (who believed they were going to witness something special) began to flood the empty sections of the arena, what was a cavernous echo, started to narrow into a taut through-line with a selection of tracks that focused the anxious energy of the crowd towards the wide DJ booth created on the floor of the arena. With a specially remixed version of “Rumble” which featured each of the DJ’s names, the crowd knew we were starting to build to something. A moment that I’m sure each member in that 20K capacity remembers was when the lights cut out at the drop of Baby Again.. (a collab track between the DJ’s whose album artwork captures the very moment this track embodied in real-time). The roar of the crowd at that moment wore away any fear that this night was going to be overwhelmed by hype, and what followed was a multi-hour party that I will not forget.
February 19th — Tourist: Brooklyn Made
Tourist’s live shows are a dream in my book. His recordings capture the imagination and form a suspension of reality in which twinkling melodies, softly buzzing bass-y boops (as one of my friends put it 😂), and emotional vocal chops swirl around my psyche, wrapping themselves around me in a trance-like state. Seeing him take the stage for his headlining show, I could sense there was a sense of confidence beginning to solidify. With a string of headlining shows in big rooms (big!) coming in 2024, I can’t wait for an even larger crowd to experience the fuzz and glow of a tourist show.
March 3rd — Weyes Blood: Brooklyn Steel
I saw this show with one of my favorite concert buddies. The opener (Molly Parden)’s main instrument is her whistle. Now, I wasn’t prepared for this fact, and to be in Brooklyn Steel (a 2000+ capacity club) where I’ve attended rock, electronic, and hip hop shows…to see someone’s whistle, which sounded clear as day through that sound system. It was inspiring. Weyes gave a moving headlining set. Her sets are like dreams, normal characteristics begin to exaggerate and the stretch and flex of time feel otherworldly. It was a true treat.
March 12th — Chaos in the CBD: Public Records (Atrium)
CBD was one of my favorite producers at the time of this show. Their original tracks traditionally blend jazz-sonic instrumentation, dusty, thumping garage percussion, and long-form compositional structure (most tracks lasting 5+ minutes) to strike a specific mood that glides with an air of ease and gloss. For those who have been to PR, there is a cafe/full-service food concept in the front rooms, and in the backyard extends a dedicated upstairs and downstairs sound room that hosts shows, DJs, and more. This show, however, was booked as part of their new “Atrium” series. A collection of shows billed as daytime sets in the cafe room as airy, floral (plants everywhere!), sun-drenched, and packed with 9ft multi-speaker sound installation from Brooklyn-based sound designer, Mo Yasin. All to say, while crowded, and maybe a bit awkward dancing in a place traditionally suited for a fancy dinner service, the place was thumping. The duo gave a multi-hour set ranging from classic house, Ethiopian-funk, and Motown jams. Beyond the talent of the DJs, the sheer atmosphere of a daytime party gave an air of lightness and intention. When the sun was setting, I remember walking back into the crisp March air, feeling my soul juiced and rejuvenated. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.
March 16th — Weston Estate: Radio City Music Hall
I was invited to this show by a very very good friend. The group was opening Radio City Music Hall, and while the crowd in attendance may have been primarily there for the headliner, the boys shocked an impressive amount of folks out of their seats straight up to their feet. Debuting unreleased tracks, and filling the space with capricious and lax energy, Weston looked like they were having a blast, and I knew from the look on my friend’s face, that this is exactly what they do best.
April 3rd — Liv.e: Baby’s All Right
The show took place on my birthday and during one of the more intense days of my month at work. Initially unsure if I was going to pull up, I gave another listen to a personal standout from Liv.e’s latest record (“Powerline”), and could feel that the densely layered sonic palette of soul, funk, r&b homogenized in an infectious blend that, despite my physical tiredness, I felt deeply drawn to want to experience. Performing most of the set from the floor of Baby’s All Right, Liv.e dug deep into the performance. A visceral, bodily experience, Liv.e live is a semantic exploration in how the groove and timbre of vocal delivery can inspire the body to twist, turn, and groove. While I wasn’t able to see her, sharing the floor with her gave me a feeling of communal gathering. The show packed a punch, and I can’t wait to see where she goes as her stage grows.
April 13th — DJ Seinfeld: Public Records
In Public Record’s back room, DJ Seinfeld has the closing of a three-night residency at the Brooklyn club. The night was foggy, dazed, and layered with a sheen of modern-sounding techno, electro-house tracks.
May 5th — Avalon Emerson (& The Charm): Baby’s All Right
While Avalon might not call it this, her 2023 record & The Charm was a love letter to the plaintive, sweet, and effervescent pop that was peppered throughout much of the aughts and 10s. Trading a pair of CDJ1000s and a packed-out warehouse before dawn for a bustling club and a stage of mostly normal-looking instruments, Avalon shined and was not afraid to command the room and let the natural essence of her album take center stage. It was a lovely evening, and for me, further cemented a truth I’ve long held that: true musicians follow the music; not the other way around. They aren’t sold to the genre, sounds, or labels, and they follow whatever sounds are guiding their ears. Avalon demonstrated that, and gave me hope that wherever the music goes, great musicians will follow.
May 10th — Four Tet + SQUIDSOUP: Avant Gardner
Of all the Four Tet shows I’ve attended, none of them to my understanding were true Four Tet shows. Over the last 10 or so years, Four Tet has staged a production of his shows in collaboration with a multi-media, and sensory art collective called SQUIDSOUP. Paying attention solely to the name, the experience of their artwork comes into focus. Thousands of glimmering bulbs hung from the ceiling of Avant Gardner that night. I remember entering the venue, and a handful of attendees naturally gravitated towards walking into the embrace of the tentacles falling from the ceiling. With no opener, Four Tet took the stage, and different from his DJ sets played a 100% original music set, and one that leaned into his atmospheric, “folktronic” catalog that elevated him in the mid to late 200s and 2010s. Meditative, cleansing, sound bath; these are the words that come to mind when I remember that show. These songs played such a firm role for me in 2019–2020 as I passed over a milestone in my adult life that this set washed over me with feelings of nostalgia, longing, and understanding. A SQUIDSOUP show is not one to be plastered at, but ironically enough, I sure as hell felt plastered (with emotions tho) walking out into the balmy May air at the show’s gentle conclusion. Highlight? Hearing “Three Drums” in a live setting complete with a the wall of fuzzed synths, the crashing of the trio-set percussion groove (this version is captured on the “Live at Alexandria Palace”, washed over me with a glimmering, sudsy glow. See my accompanying review in my Songs 2023.
May 19th — The Dare (Debut): Public Hotel
If I were to pick last year’s most tantalizingly-potentially(?)-over-hyped-feelingly-adverby show, it’d be The Dare (live). An artist with an ethos no stranger to complicated comparisons or controversy. Their late 2022/2023 string of releases (“Girls”, “Sex” etc — I do suggest spinning one of these for yourself and allowing yourself to decide) lead a discourse of the “indie sleaze” revival. Editorializing aside, the packed room felt like a seen, and to-be seen affair. Having slowly built momentum through consecutive nights of their branded “Frequencies” parties, the live show was giving a similar spunky, young&dumb flair. When The Dare took the stage, their short set (of the EP), gave
May 20th — Caroline Polachek, Ethel Cain: Radio City Music Hall, The Spiraling Tour
I’ve noticed a theme in the shows I’ve seen at Radio City. There is a glam and sense of occasion in the venue, and for many of the shows I’ve seen there in the last few years, the artists playing RC strut the wide stage with a sense of arrival and homecoming. Caroline just slayed. Her vocal delivery is otherworldly; from light design to staging, we felt ‘welcomed to her island’. What surprised me that night tho was the presence of Ethel’s fan base. I firmly believed you could argue that this was a dual headline — with more than half the audience dressed in old southern white, lacy wedding dresses in duty to “mother cain”. The highlight of the night was Ethel’s performance of Thoroughfare, an 8+min epic poem of a woman finding her way in a backwards, but all-to-relatable world. You could hear a pin drop in between the roaring wails of the chorus.
May 23rd — Westerman: Music Hall of Williamsburg
A tender, luscious evening. For me, Westerman’s music has occupied this cloying space of sun-soaked, sweltering melancholy, and torrid meditation. As an artist from Greece, Westerman does not tour the States often, and for this tour was playing materially equally from his 2020 album, “Your Hero Is Not Dead” (standout: Blue Comanche and the title track (my favorite being the piano version) and the 2023 release, “An Inbuilt Fault” (standout: Idol; RE-run). While most of the records employ sufficiently standard instrumentation: guitars, hand percussion, and not to mention Westerman’s signatory ethereal and resonant voice, the music itself is profoundly emphatic and lyrically dense. With opaque erudite references, and sweeping lyrical passages flow, the night was anchored by the evident flutter of Westerman’s voice and the songs that meant so much to me in the mid-point of 2020.
June 16th — LCD Soundsystem, Jamie XX, Idles: Forest Hills Stadium, RE:SET NYC
Idles stole the show this evening. Rippling energy circulated the crowd as enthusiastic mosh pits, and, really tho, just the most well-intended pushing you ever did see tore the floor of the amphitheater into an undulating mass of passion. I was blown away at the Idles live show and really would want them to return for a main-stage performance. However, the rest of the night fell a little flat. I feel the promoters did Jamie dirty on this one by having his musical brand of prismatic club music perform in broad daylight. I left before LCD took the stage. Not every night has to be your night, and that’s okay.
June 17th — boygenius, Clario, Dijon, Bartees Strange: Forest Hills Stadium, RE:SET NYC
The RE:SET festival tour was pretty cool, and an example of well-executed tour branding. AEG Presents seemed to be pretty specific in that this wasn’t the boygenius headlining US tour (tho maybe fan sentiment would beg to differ). Really nor was it LCD Soundsystem or Steve Lacey (who were headlining the Friday and Sunday equivalents. However, it was billed as a multi-city Warped Tour-like traveling show where this almost festival-worthy lineup was hitting outdoor amphitheaters. The hype for it was visceral. The boygenius record had a few months to marinate, and compared to their 2018 tour, this was going to be a full hour+ super-trio set. The 2018 tour had each of the solo projects give a mini-set before the trio emerged back on stage for an encore set to perform the EP in its entirety. (Bite the Hand still shakes me to my core — ty Pitchfork for capturing it -> link).
This mini-fest also saw the likes of Clairo, Dijon, and Bartees Strange. Clario, much like her Live at Electric Lady EP demonstrates. Her sound is lush, cushioned, holding on to its plaintive core. Dijon performing in their signature rectangular in-the-round formation gave an impassioned set full of wails, and tremors of emotional flair. That was probably as close to a perfect summer day as I remember. The sun dipped past the horizon as boygenius took the stage. From the opening, which is now iconic thanks to various fan-captured videos, with the trio performing the haunting acapella “Without You Without Them” to the thunderous drums and crunchy power chord opening of “$20”. The sheer riot of the crowd made it feel in my bones that something spectacular was occurring. And, as a few of the close friends who I was with recall, it was when the munchy, snapped opening riff of “Satanist” rang through Forest Hills that I lost my shit: “They’re f***ing rockstars!!!” I yelled over the roar of the crowd. Yes, William. Yes, they are.
June 23rd — Zach Bryan: Forest Hills Stadium
I didn’t get it at first. I, maybe like many other 20-something city-based music fans, hadn’t heard of Zach Bryan before September 2022. As fully asleep as I was, “Something in the Orange” (tagged below) had quickly risen to be one of my favorite songs I heard that year. With sturdy songwriting, and instinctive and tender performances, Zach had grabbed my heart, and I was now fully paying attention. As part of AEG Presents’ answer to Ticketmaster (post-Eras Tour ticking snafu), there was a “verified fan” like pre-sale where for a $1 deposit, a fan could reserve the right to purchase tickets. This locked me in for a chance to see Zach for part of his two-night residency in Queens.
Now, this show was a pretty interesting reminder of the musical bubble that I find myself in. I felt pretty out of place at this show. Perhaps it was my lack of cowboy hat, or Tecovas. However, despite the personally unnerving chants of “f*ck Joe Biden” from the surrounding crowd, I found that Zach positively took my breath away. Confidence, and sparkling energy. It felt like he was performing to every seat of the amphitheater. My favorite part was his backing band. With a looseness that emitted brotherhood and a snugness that preserved the energy of the bombastic moment. The band would yank into extended jams that I couldn’t help but smile at. Energy, excruciatingly radiating from the firey playing of the banjos, fiddle, and percussion onstage, I witnessed a key moment in what makes music fun, and I’d be damned if I didn’t dance in my seat for even just a minute of this impressive set. It was a beautiful evening.
July 13th — Diplo, T-Pain: The Brooklyn Mirage
All I’ll say here is that T-Pain’s cover of War Pigs is as good as it gets.
July 22nd — Bob Moses: The Brooklyn Mirage
Bob Moses puts on a fantastic live show. They’ve grown a long way from the first time I saw them in 2015 (at a basement club in Denver, CO). From fully fleshed instrumentation and dynamic vocal delivery, the duo honed their sleek and emotional brand of sad club bangers for an impressive mainstage exhibition at The Mirage.
July 30th — Bonobo, Jacques Greene, Sofia Kourtesis: Knockdown Center, Outlier NYC
August 12th — Four Tet, Amish Kumar, Hapgop Tchaparian, Shanti Celeste: Finsbury Park, All Dayer
This was my first overseas show! In what is now billed as an annual event, Four Tet performs an “all dayer” (I’m no expert in taxonomy, but it’s an extended set, this one lasting 6 hours). It was really when I moved to New York that I was introduced to this concept. Really, off the cuff, it sounds quite awful, right? How does standing for 4+ hours, especially in a potentially loud, sweaty, rambunctious space facilitate a reasonable time? Well, it truly depends on who and when you ask. But as I started attending a few events like this, I like to compare it principally to that of long-distance running. So many music events these days are sprints. Maybe it’s a symptom of online platforms crunching our attention window into 25-second stints, but either way, many commercialized live events are built off of punctuated and potent delivery. They hit ya and you’re out in 90 minutes. This, like a marathon, is about the low-burning progressions over the long haul. The entire set moved in gradual and rolling crescendos; placidly lifting and lowering the crowd’s energy levels. While not mentally or emotionally locked for the entire time, for me, the joy has been having the choice to be lost in the haze between external stimulation and my stately internal anchor.
Having flown a redeye into London, and crashing for about 20 minutes at my hotel, I had to physically and emotionally prepare myself. The mini-fest took place in a beautiful park in North London. The sun shone all day, and as someone who traveled solo, I floated between different points of the crowd absorbing the energy of the dancers around me, and finding the space that felt right for my energy in that moment. My favorite moment of the night was the final track of the night. An unreleased track ID (tho rumored to be a collaboration between Fred Again.. and Selena Gomez) that the fandom is calling “it’s alright” is an adaptation of a spiritual hymn that sparked something deep in my soul. Some songs just hit the right place and the right time to speak to folks. This one, for that part of my summer, washed over me. While Atlantic Records UK seems to be on a pretty strict takedown streak policing this release, it hopefully means that it might be included on the much anticipated forthcoming Fred album which we’ll hopefully see in 2024.
All in all, I couldn’t believe I made it to the night’s end, and I can confidently recall that I slept like a goddamn baby that night. Swooned soundly by a day of dancing that soothed my soul, but made my body ache — but satisfactorily, ya know?
August 23rd — Alvvays, Alex G: Prospect Park Bandshell, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!
August 24th — Paradise Fears: Gramercy Theatre
I went to high school with these cats. I shared a choir folder with the drummer! There is a certain part of seeing this band that comes with a tinge of melancholy to me. Not for the performance, they gave an incredibly jubilant, and fiery performance. From seeing them perform acoustic sets in my high school library during block sessions in 2010, I always felt like Paradise Fears was a reminder of my childhood, and what it was like to grow up in a small rural state. Yes, they’re hometown heroes (who still make an impact in our community), and there are so many people whose lives have been touched by this band’s music. But being in that room, that band was not just mine or my experience. It was a collective gathering of folks who were all looking back together. The warm glow of nostalgia lingered long after the doors opened at the show’s end.
August 26th — Florist & Skullcrusher: Music Hall of Williamsburg
Spellbinding is how I remember this show. Whilst in the middle of the summer’s brutal heat wave, the gentle, and swooning intensity of this night put me beside myself. Each group had fantastic 2022 records, but I especially remember Skullcrusher’s performance of “They Quiet the Room.” Evocative, overwhelming, and the right dose of dazzling. I wept and smiled as the weight of the day shifted off my shoulders.
September 9th — Nation of Language, Rockefeller Center, Indieplaza
October 1st — Lana Del Rey, boygenius, Muna, Arlo Parks, Alex G, Alvvays, Ethel Cain, Samia: Merriweather Post Pavilion, All Things Go Music Festival
I still look at this lineup and shake my head. And this was only ONE day of this two-day event! You could have looked at the top 15 artists from my 2022 and 2023, rolled them into a burrito, and made this billing.
For this section, in addition to the performances given, I want to point out where each of these artists was in their album cycle, and how that impacted the show they gave.
Lana Del Rey — Notably, not very many dates for Lana in 2023 (2024 seems already bent on changing that — i’m looking at you, coachella). Aside from a handful of festival appearances, seeing Lana live remained a rare occurrence. This set might be a top 3 musical moment for me this year. With cuts from Normal Fucking Rockwell, Ultraviolence, Born to Die, Chemtrails and Ocean Blvd, Lana had stage performers, lush instrumentation, and immaculate stage presence. She knew how a subtle wink, nod, or look could communicate a nuanced emotional moment. The fans surrounding me lapped every moment up; roaring with laughter, crying tears of joy, and whispering sweet nothings trying to decode the unraveling mystery of Lana’s staged persona.
Those who have asked me, I am a deep Lana fan. My favorite all-time™️ favorite Lana cut is “Bartender”. It’s sweeping, melodic, visual in its songwriting, and visceral in its performance. Hearing the chorus reverberate across the crowd almost brought me to tears.
An additional key moment to call out was the unlikely appearance of Jack Antonoff himself (a close producer and songwriter on many of Lana’s latest efforts). Performing “Margaret” and “Venice Bitch” acoustic with Jack; it was one of those musical moments where you think to yourself “oh my god, this is one of the only times this will ever happen”. I pinched myself, and dear god, I’m glad I took a video, even if it took me out of the moment for just a second.
boygenius — (this was one of the highest billings I’ve seen them on! + Notably this date was abutted a Madison Square Garden headline). The demand to see this group was exponential, and while the set was very close to their MSG + Forest Hills headline, it contained cuts from their Oct 2023 B-side EP. They performed like headliners, and it was a joy.
MUNA — MUNA gave the strongest set of the day. The highest billing they’ve had (they closed the B-stage of the festival), and they did it looking like f***ing rockstars. Lights, production, a roaring crowd. Notably, they’re still rolling HOT off of their 2022 self-titled release, and the standout single single “Silk Chiffon.” The guest verse that night was performed by Arlo Parks, and it was a damn treat — apparently Phoebe was still over at the other stage performing with boygenius or something hahaha ;))
Arlo Parks — this was a great showing for Arlo. I’ve seen Arlo in comparatively small clubs up to this point, and I felt that this was the beginning of Arlo seeing the live performance as a separate experience. With a fully fleshed-out band (+ banging horn section), the songs began to flex something beyond the recording. There were a few cuts performed from May 2023’s release, but the standout for the set was “Caroline” from 2021 Collapsed in Sunbeams.
Ethel Cain — whew. Similar to what I experienced at Caroline’s Radio City show a few months prior, Ethel had complete authority over her audience. Whilst fighting the natural chaos of a day-time festival audience, Ethel focused the energy into a set that felt free, and a victory lap for her incredible year. (oh yeah, she is still cruising on the sustaining success of 2022’s Preacher’s Daughter).
Alvvays + Alex G — I laughed as this was exsactlyyyy the same set/tour as what I saw in Brooklyn in early august. All I’ll say here is that this is smart tour routing from their agents, and they both performed beautiful sets as the sun crested on that lovely autumn afternoon (both releasing critically acclaimed albums in 2022).
October 7th — Ben Böhmer, Barry Can’t Swim: The Brooklyn Mirage, Portraet
The Mirage has built itself to be a unique experience. Outdoor, incredibly wide-side visual screen, and vendors of food, drink, and novelties. It advances what I have thought of as the festival-i-cation of live events (the creation of festival-like atmospheres inside normal two->three artist-billed shows). Ben has honed his style of emotional, trance-adjacent electric music into a well-choreographed EDM gathering. Well suited for The Mirage’s video displays and festival-like atmosphere, Ben hosted a sweltering, and emotionally evocative evening, dancing between synthesizers, and on-stage modulators guiding the audience to anthemic highs and through misty lows.
October 10th — Noah Gundersen, Casey Dubie: SPACE
Noah gave an electrifying performance of “Cigarettes”. It’s a fan favorite, and in a venue which felt filled with close friends, and long-time supporters.
October 12th — Fred Again..:Forest Hills Stadium
Yeah — the mans is a star. For an artist who hadn’t played a single show prior to 2020. Sure, he was a songwriter and had very talented performing chops, but I think it’s important to put it to the scale that he has developed his stage presence, vision, and show in just 2.5 short years of touring. Homie is headlining Bonnaroo this upcoming summer; a bonafide star from the 2020 era of artist development. As a friend recently put it to me, he has built this bridge between the underground and commercial, the big tent and the intimate. In his live shows, he builds his compositions via intimate clips (video & audio — something that feels to strike a chord in our era of short-form entertainment), and morphs them into meandering soundscapes. It is a must-see show, and luckily, it seems Fred is showing no signs of slowing down.
October 21st — Small Black, Geographer: Bowery Ballroom
November 4th — Slow Pulp: Bowery Ballroom
It is always quite fun for me to see a band amid a meteoric rise. Working in small venues, it was occasionally a toss-up when the size of the room didn’t quite capitulate with the relative popularity of the group. That night, Slow Pulp arrived at a homecoming show (tho they are notably from Ohio). The band had already played two other NY-area shows that week and the demand was just unrelenting. From fuzzed angsty anthems to folksy tunes, Slow Pulp gave an energized performance and affirmed that they’ll be a pretty damn fun band to see for the new few years.
November 5th — DJ AHAD, Chloé Robinson, Nikki Nair: Good Room, Pretty Weird
November 7th — Sampha, Ruthven: Webster Hall
Sampha’s 2023 record “Lahai” was undoubtedly one of the best things I heard last year. It was lush, spacious, unbothered, and, for my taste, the mix of left-of-center song structure, melodic-centered, and jazzed electro that hit me in the sweet spot. My favorite part of this show was how Sampha decided to bring these elements to life in a live setting.
Different from many of the club sets I saw this year, I felt drawn to Sampha’s decision to liberate the songs from their recorded version. An affirming reminder that songs are so much more than recordings. They’re living things that come from the nebulous region between magic, science, and the spirit. This was most notably asserted in this tour’s version of “No One Loves Me Like the Piano”. As he mentioned in his interview with Zane Lowe, he felt the song was speaking to him differently. By inverting many of the chords, and re-voicing the chordal harmonic structure of the composition (meaning he swapped chords and voicing of chords to applicable replacements which in turn can change the emotional vibrancy and mood of a composition), the song transformed into an almost thoroughly unrecognizable version of itself. Rather than melancholy, and resounding loss, the new version emitted hope, transformation, and curiosity. Something that only faintly resembled the version that was recorded so many years prior. My initial feeling was actual frustration. It was one of my favorite songs, and I admit I had almost an inbuilt expectation for what that moment in the show was going to be like. Like many of the fans at Frank’s Coachella set, the expectation for the live show can sometimes overshadow the performance taking place in real time. It was a reminder for myself to check in with what I was attending the show to experience, and in retrospect, I couldn’t feel more thankful for what I saw that night. A bunch of performers rallying around the strength of compositions that have found many lives: both in fixed, recorded forms and the ephemeral.
November 14th — The 1975, Dora Jar: Madison Square Garden, …Still At Their Very Best
I proclaimed (potentially naively) that I “finally understand The 1975!” after attending their …Still At Their Very Best stop at Madison Square Garden. Similar to what I mentioned in my Songs 2023 post, I was drowning in Matty content before arriving at this show. What I feel drawn to talking about here is that they are an incredibly tight live ensemble. From every inflection of the lyric to the flair of the instrumental bed, Th 1975 delivered an almost 2-hour event demonstrating the strength of their latest record, and that they are a band whose wares is best served live and in person. My moment from the night was “Love It If We Made It”. The ferocious, primal screams of Matty matched the gale of the belting crowd, and I felt like I was seeing a collective moment of “you know…we’re not perfect, but we might as well try.” Maybe that’s The 1975 to me, but it sure as hell was The 1975 to the 20,000 folks packed into MSG that night.
December 15th — Four Tet, Warsaw
For me, it was a victory lap. Four Tet has had incredibly high career milestones this year and played in vast, unusual places (MSG to Coachella and more). While this wasn’t my favorite set this year, I think his intentions for what he wanted to do that night was different than each event I saw earlier in the calendar year. Sans the pressure of a festival mainstage, or a headlining slot to produce the Instagrammable “moment” ~ i believe the audience got something a little more experimental while still paying homage to the banner year he had. (To note, this show took place in a completely bizarre venue choice which is most known for its death metal shows, and for being an old Polish community center, in the traditionally Polish Greenpoint neighborhood — but for Four Tet, it didn’t seem that crazy.).
The hive of Four Tet’s fanbase was also in full force. So much so that some dedicated fans have “reconstructed” his set via this Spotify playlist. An expression of fandom that reminds me of why preserving spaces for fandom is so important. This is where the music and the experiences become so much more than tickets or subscriptions to playlist machines. But a space that bridges real human connection and helps us make meaning of our world with music. As the night came to its conclusion, and Four Tet let the entirety of Charlie Brown’s ‘O Tannenbaum’ play out, and wary clubbers began filing towards the door, I smiled to myself. To me, clubs aren’t physically bound spaces for exclusivity in songs, vibes, or moods. But expansive spaces designed for the transformation of our relationship with music and each other.
