On the summer evening of Tuesday, Aug. 15, Shakey Graves pulled a crowd of friends, strangers, and lovers to the rooftop of New York City’s Pier 17. On their “Movie Of The Week Tour,” Shakey Graves is celebrating the release of their newest EP, Big In The World. New York City was lucky enough to be a stop on Shakey Graves’s map, for the performance was unlike anything else the rooftop has seen before. As the unique sunset of pearly pink tufts and layers of soft yellow fortified, the perfect evening settled and waited for the show to begin.
Lucius, the opener, put on a riveting show of their own. The Brooklyn-born indie-pop band successfully combined the subgenre of alt-pop with disco tech, which called for a dancey audience. The crowd sang along with the instruction of lead singers, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig. Their matching hot pink blazers couldn’t be missed, neither could their impressive lyricism and captivating stage presence.
The duo left the stage, while the band held the set with an instrumental serenade. After a brief interlude, Wolfe and Laessig returned in disco-tile mini dresses. They made their way to the center of the audience, and the entire venue took a seat to listen and admire. At the center of gracious applause, Lucius closed out their performance.
In between Lucius’s and Shakey Graves’s set, the rooftop filled up with fans. A vital cooling August breeze rolled off the East River and sewed its way between the bodies of the crowd. With the wind came a threatening sheet of gray clouds holding in their bellies of rain, but the crowd stood unwavering, true to Pier 17’s rain-or-shine nature. Thankfully the weather prevailed, and the night remained nothing short of perfect.
As the sun finally set vocalist of Shakey Graves, Alejandro Rose-Garcia, made his way onto stage dressed in all black, from his cowboy hat down to his boots. It was just him on the stage for the first two songs. During that time he introduced himself with his guitar and established his tuneful and guttural vocals. He spoke about the theme of his show before singing his song “Late July,” saying “The running theme of tonight’s music is that time flies by.” In New York City fashion, time whirred around and above the audience, across the Brooklyn Bridge, and in the flickering seconds of the downtown skyline. Though, time moved slowly on the rooftop, for the audience swallowed every guitar strum and studied the lyrics like a hymn.
The rest of his six man-band joined him for the third song of the set. Cameron Neal, Patrick O’Connor, and Taylor Craft owned the strings. Matt Pence conducted the versatile percussion, and Dancey Jenkins commanded the keys. The sound was immediately elevated, and the smokey influences of blues, folk, country, and psychedelic rock could be heard clearly and with intent.
The music became something tangible through the physical effect it had on the audience. It became elusive as it settled as personal emotion in everyone’s gut. Pockets of people danced barefoot on the concrete, piling up their shoes, tossing their bags, and stomping on the rooftop. There was something about Shakey Graves’ music that was so raw, so human, that it elicited movement. Music can do that, it makes the body want to feel the ground connect with its soles, meet skin with every beat, and allow the passage of the body to really feel the relationship between sound and soul.
The band paused their performance for Rose-Garcia to make a toast. “I want to congratulate all of you on making it through some crazy shit… I have a lot of things I love that I need to be more grateful for, family and friends… to you and yours, may you live forever. Cheers.” A roar of gratitude washed from the crowd onto Shakey Graves. Audience members embraced each other and smiled endearingly at their best friends and lovers, daughters and sons, mothers and fathers. Bodies held each other a bit tighter, and stood a bit closer, as the rest of the show unfolded.
Shakey Graves’s music spotlights the romance, the pain, the peace, that comes with falling in and out of love with people, places, and moments in time. It’s the moments of transition, realization, and reckoning that live in their lyrics. People sang their songs like they would solidify a promise, so faithful and sure. The rest of the evening consisted of songs of old and new. Rose-Garcia spoke on his relationship with New York City, one he created when he was young and “flat broke,” which landed relatable to the crowd of New Yorkers. He told the birth story of his hit single, “Tomorrow” (released in 2016), and how he wrote it during his time in the city.
The band left the stage, but the crowd remained in hungry anticipation of an encore. Sure enough, the band met the audience’s needs and returned to the stage for a branding final performance. People towards the spacious back end of the crowd let loose, dancing with their entire bodies and singing with their hands clasped to their chests. The band expressed their gratitude once more, and Rose-Garcia introduced his band members. When it came time for Shakey Graves to leave and the lights to turn on, everyone remembered it was a Tuesday night. Time sure had flown by, just as the band promised it would.
