{"id":1706,"date":"2022-12-05T23:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2022\/2022\/12\/05\/take-two-beabadoobee-and-lowertown-take-on-albanys-empire-live\/"},"modified":"2022-12-05T23:30:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T23:30:00","slug":"take-two-beabadoobee-and-lowertown-take-on-albanys-empire-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2022\/2022\/12\/05\/take-two-beabadoobee-and-lowertown-take-on-albanys-empire-live\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Two: Beabadoobee and Lowertown take on Albany\u2019s Empire Live"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Indie bedroom-pop musician beabadoobee marked her second-to-last US tour stop at Empire Live<\/a> last Saturday, Dec. 3, with support from rising alternative duo Lowertown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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beabadoobee performing solo at the start of her set \/ Photo Credit: Sumaiya Nasir <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Empire Live, located on Pearl Street in downtown Albany, is a mid-sized room for bands with a mid-sized following. It boasts a spacious floor with standing-room-only, ideal for dancing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sandwiched between MVP Arena<\/a> and the Palace Theatre<\/a>, Empire Live offers locals a unique taste of both upcoming and well-established musical artists. The intimate venue was packed from the stage barricade to the bar with highschool to late-20s aged fans, plus a few hesitant parents here-and-there, with no shortage of energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beatrice Kristi Laus, stylistically known as \u201cbeabadoobee,\u201d is a Filipino-British musician who came into popularity in 2017 with viral hit \u201cCoffee<\/a>.\u201d Her most recent album, \u201cBeatopia<\/a>,\u201d evokes childhood nostalgia with an MS-Paint or restaurant-tablecloth-crayon drawing looking album cover<\/a>. Stuffed animals were scattered across the amps on stage, one fan even throwing a teddy bear to Bea halfway through the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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beabadoobee performing \u201cCoffee\u201d solo during the encore \/ Photo Credit: Danielle Modica<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Atlanta-based Lowertown started off the night strong with a spirited and punky set. In album sessions, the band has more of a soft, shoegaze sound. Live, they pull out all the stops and are nothing short of a high-energy garage band experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Olivia Osby of Lowertown performing \/ Photo Credit: Sumaiya Nasir<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The songs were fast and loud with jam interludes by guitarist Avshalom \u201cAvsha\u201d Weinberg. Lead singer Olivia Osby encouraged the audience to go wild, opening a mosh pit, crowd surfing and spitting water into the crowd. Fans followed through, opening a large circle in the center of the already sardine-can-packed venue and going hog wild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Olivia Osby of Lowertown crowd surfing \/ Photo Credit: Danielle Modica<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Songs \u201cNo Way,\u201d \u201cAll My Friends\u201d and \u201cBest Person You Know\u201d stole the night with the most jumping and chanting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lowertown performing \/ Photo Credit: Danielle Modica<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

beabadoobee began her show after a quick stage reset and suspenseful audio introduction. After performing \u201c10:36<\/a>\u201d solo, the band joined Bea and only added more flair to her soulful, soft and sweet singing style. Bea\u2019s band kept up a late 90\u2019s grunge\/pop punk vibe. Bea\u2019s guitarist and back-up singer, Jacob Bugden, complemented her baby-like pitch with a Billy Corgan-esque tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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beabadoobee & her band \/ Photo Credit: Danielle Modica<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Perfect Pair\u201d and \u201cShe Plays Bass\u201d stood out with the most energy and crowd engagement. The audience passionately shouted the lyrics back to Bea while she maintained control, coordinating group audience jumps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bea frequently stood towards the back of the stage during instrumental portions, allowing for her band to receive all the attention. She shared her gratitude with the crowd various times, even joking about her inability to pronounce \u201cAlbany,\u201d butchered with a subtle British accent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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beabadoobee jamming on guitar \/ Photo Credit: Danielle Modica<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both bands\u2019 sets were thoughtfully planned out, seamlessly transitioned and well-executed, there was never a \u201cwhen will it end\u201d moment like other drawn out shows. The crowd stayed engaged with electric excitement, loudly chanting the lyrics to the songs they knew – even the venue playlist pre-and-post show. The good vibes seemed to encourage both sets to go a little harder with each song, giving fans a night to remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an hour-and-a-half-long performance, Bea and her band briskly exited the stage to ABBA\u2019s \u201cDancing Queen<\/a>\u201d playing from the venue speakers. Audience members stayed behind to dance along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lowertown Setlist:<\/strong> It\u2019s It\u2019s It\u2019s, Debris, Scum, No Way, At the End, My Friends, Bucktooth, Best Person<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beabadoobee Setlist:<\/strong> 10:36, Apple Cider, Care, Fairy Song; Yoshimi, Forest, Magdalene; Worth It, Together, Charlie Brown, The Perfect Pair, Sunny Day, Sorry, She Plays Bass, See You Soon, Don\u2019t Get the Deal, Back to Mars, Last Day On Earth, Talk
Encore:<\/strong> Coffee, Ripples Cologne<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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