Indie rock sensation Japanese Breakfast played four sold out shows at Brooklyn Steel last week (October 14-17, 2021), continuing their North American Fall 2021 Tour.
Japanese Breakfast at Brooklyn Steel, photography by David Reichmann
Luna Li opened for Japanese Breakfast the first three nights, her last involvement after having also opened for them throughout the first leg of the tour. Bringing a lot of warmth and enthusiasm, Li performed several of her biggest hits including “Alone But Not Lonely“, “Cherry Pit“, and a few energizing instrumentals from her Jams EP.
Luna Li remarked on how deeply thankful she was for the fans and for the huge opportunity to go on tour. She also mentioned how seeing Japanese Breakfast in concert several years ago had inspired her, stating,
as a Korean . . . seeing Michelle, another Korean, on stage meant so much to me.
Luna Li
Japanese Breakfast started their set with “Paprika,” the opening track from their latest album, Jubilee. Each time Michelle smashed the gong, the crowd screamed and cheered. They went immediately into the second track of the album “Be Sweet,” which lifted the crowd to an even louder chorus of cheers.
Apart from their successful run of performances, Japanese Breakfast front-woman and songwriter, Michelle Zauner, not only released an all-new soundtrack to accompany the video-game,Sable, last month, but had also launched her memoir Crying in H-Mart earlier this year as well.
You can listen to their music and follow the rest of their North American Tour here.
The Struts played Irving Plaza on Friday, October 8, part of a huge U.S. tour that started in August and takes them across the U.S. until mid-November. They were as tight as you’d expect from a band that’s been on tour for months, rocking thru a long set that included many new songs from their last record, Strange Days. It was written and recorded during the pandemic lockdown, and the title song’s chorus is an apt description of that time…
Oh these are strange days, In many strange ways, Science fiction I believe, Has become reality, Oh these are strange times, Lost in our minds, We don’t know, it’s unclear, Where we’ll be this time next year
the Struts
Thankfully the next year finds them onstage, where they belong. Their recorded music is made for packed shows with the crowd singing along, and Friday night was exactly that. From the second singer Luke Spiller swaggered onstage, the audience was singing and cheering at his command. Spiller is a natural performer, constantly moving and thriving on the audience’s feedback, never letting their set’s energy decrease.
the Struts
From the opening notes of “Primadonna Like Me” he controlled the entire show, engaging the crowd between every song by demanding more applause or encouraging them to do complicated sing alongs, reminiscent of Rob Halford of Judas Priest. He introduced every track with a description like ‘the next song is about my favorite thing’ before “Dirty Sexy Money” or ‘the last song was the foreplay and now we’re gonna turn down the lights, so get out your phones’ before the venue went dark and they played “Mary Go Round” by the light of the crowd’s phones.
the Struts
“Body Talks,” “One Night Only” and “Kiss This” are hit songs so it’s expected people joined in, but it was impressive how well the audience knew all the words to their new songs, including “I Hate How Much I Want You,” where they took over the part of the backing vocals sung on the album by Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Phil Collen. Other new songs played were “Wild Child,” (written with Tom Morello) that started with guitar player Adam Slack alone onstage in a spotlight for an extended introductory solo, and the sultry “Am I talking to the Champagne” that had Spiller singing at the piano.
the Struts
The last song was a long version of “I Do It So Well,” and Spiller introduced Slack, bass player Jed Elliott and drummer Gethin Davies, and then split the audience down the middle into Slack and Elliott’s sides, and pitted them against each other in a spirited cheering contest. After going back and forth for awhile Spiller said ‘fucking hell New York that was all right’ and then kept the song going, directing everyone to crouch down as they decreased the tempo and volume, and the place got hushed until Spiller told everyone to leap up and scream as loud as they could and the place went crazy. The song volumed soared and the crowd jumped up and down in unison, shaking the whole place. At the end they walked offstage leaving the audience chanting ‘one more song’ at the end of the set (which was selling the encore short because there were two songs left on the setlist.)
the Struts
Spiller came out alone and began “Strange Days” at the piano and the place went silent, appreciating his playing and impressive vocal range. They ended their show, unsurprisingly, with their smash hit “Could Have Been Me,” leading the crowd in one last sing along before taking a sweaty bow. It’s pretty common to find the Struts opening for the world’s biggest rock acts or playing festivals, so it was special to see them in a smaller venue like Irving Plaza.
the Struts
The Starbenders, from Atlanta, were the opening band. The crowd was mostly full and enjoyed their set, their moody stage lighting and sound were reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine or The Jesus and Mary Chain. They are playing several other dates on this Struts tour.
The Struts – Irving Plaza – October 8, 2021
Setlist: Primadonna Like Me, Body Talks, Kiss This, Hate How Much I Want You, Fire, One Night Only, Dirty Sexy Money, Low Key in Love, Mary Go Round (acoustic), Put Your Money on Me, Medley, Champagne, Wild Child, I Did it so Well Encore: Strange Days, Could Have Been Me
Rochester is home to some long standing music venues, one in particular is Montage Music Hall. This venue has seen many acts from locals to national artists ever since it opened its doors many years ago, it has been host to bands such as Tantric, All That Remains, Clutch, and many other big names. On October 5th, Montage Music Hall hosted Attila on their “Day Drinking Tour,” along with Jynx and with local support from Destroy//Create, and Perspectives. The show had a great turnout and energy throughout the night, especially for the show being on a weekday. Head over to the Montage Music Halls site to find out what shows are next.
It was a calm, quiet Wednesday night in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. With the streets hardly packed, some headed home to end their evenings early, others made their way to the Subway for their night shifts, while scattered groups searched for a potential brouhaha to jumpstart their night. New York City has a suis generis aura because not only is it one of the world’s marquee Metropolitis, but it is also the cultural hub of the world. And on any given night something amazing could be happening around the corner.
Such was the atmosphere inside the intimate setting of Blue Note Jazz Club. Founded in 1981, Blue Note’s motto is centered around preserving the history of jazz, according to their website. “The club is a place where progression and innovation – the foundations of jazz – are encouraged and practiced on a nightly basis…while regularly showcasing up-and-coming jazz, soul, hip-hop, R&B and funk artists” and has seen the likes of Stevie Wonder, Tony Bennett, Liza Minelli, and Quincy Jones grace their stage.
But on this night, Blue Note did not play host to any developing talent, but rather two established hip hop legends. For two consecutive nights on August 24 & 25, GZA of the Wu Tang Clan headlined the culturally historic club accompanied by Talib Kweli and of course live music as the Phunky Nomads shared the stage with the two hip hop greats.
Thus, on a cozy summer night the two Brooklynite’s performed a medley of records that reminded those in attendance of a simpler time in the world. Fans lightly serenaded the club, singing along to some of GZA and Wu Tang Clan’s more recognizable records and even some album cuts.
GZA is a master of his craft, so it came as no surprise that he had memorized not only his rhymes, but those of his groupmates as well, performing several verses from the deceased Ol’ Dirty Bastard and other Clan members. In one sequence in particular, the Liquid Swords emcee began performing the Clan’s hit record, “Triumph.” You know, the one where Inspectah Deck “lyrically performs armed robbery” before transitioning into “Shame on a N***a” and performing ODB’s verse.
The live music only added to the atmosphere as the Phunky Nomads took command of each record, seamlessly sequencing between jazz, classical, funk, hip hop and rock instrumentation. They made each record their own, evident when GZA began performing “C.R.E.A.M.” backed with classical sounding music (They even did a rendition of The O’Jays’ “For The Love of Money”). Their choice of musical direction often kept the audience on edge, wondering what new possible twist they would put to classic Clan records.
