hannah bahng brought her sold-out debut Abysmal Tour to Mercury Lounge on December 5, promising to deliver “The Worst Night Of Your Life”.
Self-written, self-composed, and co-produced, hannah bahng is a multitalented artist with the skill and vision to realize every facet of her creative endeavors with evident care and precision. Hailing from Sydney, Australia, 20 year old bahng entered the music sphere with the perfectly nostalgic, sea-salt tinged “perfect blues” and its slightly hazier, dreamy counterpart “OLeander” on July 14, 2023.
Since the dual-single release, bahng has seen a meteoric rise in popularity, and certainly for good reason. Releasing her debut The Abysmal EP on May 31 produced in partnership with Andrew Luce, bahng delivered a total of seven tracks that cut deep sonically and lyrically, pulling listeners through each and every emotion with vibrant intensity.
This same intensity was on full display at the Mercury Lounge on December 5, one of several shows of bahng’s first ever tour which very quickly sold out and saw various venue upgrades due to a widespread hope to experience what was marketed as “the worst night of your life.”
This sentiment was equally felt in line outside the venue and within its doors, the warm lights of the Mercury Lounge twinkling invitingly as fans meandered their way inside.
Concert-goers could be found excitedly waiting in line for bahng’s adorably curated merchandise or exchanging homemade goods like bracelets and photocards just outside the entrance (the latter a tradition emerging from the K-Pop scene, which has since evidently bled into tangential spaces and beyond)- all various shades of blue in a lovely nod to her debut single.
Chatting with other fans proved effortless as everyone shared an intangible undercurrent of knowledge that something special was about to happen- after all, the Mercury Lounge marked the historic third show bahng has ever performed in the professional sphere following two dates in Texas.
And, as hannah herself would mention later in the evening, it marked her first ever performance in New York after visiting the city as a songwriter and audience member prior.
As bahng took the stage, the energy was electric. Opening the similar form to her Abysmal EP, she delivered a captivating performance of “OLeander” followed by a gut wrenching rendition of the deeply personal “hannah interlude” which was written while bahng was visiting New York out of a rented studio.
Similarly, the unreleased “Ribs” features bahng and a piano in a moment so deeply vulnerable it was as if the entire space around her took a moment to pause and listen in.
Between tracks, the intimacy of the venue resulted in an almost conversational rapport between hannah and the audience in which fans showered her in compliments, asked about her Pokémon jacket- custom made by a friend in the audience- and learned that her favorite Pokémon of the franchise is the definitively underrated cubone.
I’d also be remiss to not mention the vicious Rubiks Cube battle that occurred on stage. A lovely audience member went head to head with bahng in a tense battle of wits, and hannah reigned victorious- but not before passing off her newly signed cube to the audience participant with a hug and cheers from the crowd.
More hard hitting tracks followed, including the bass-heavy “POMEGRANATE” and the unreleased “What Never Lived” that mourns the death of a relationship that never quite happened, which quickly grew to be a personal favorite.
Tracks of her own weren’t all that hannah had to offer, either. Covers of Chase Atlantic’s “Church” and Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer” came next, the former a favorite of bahng’s that she explained was performed to balm the lack of the track at a Chase Atlantic concert she had attended, and the latter for the parents in the audience- though, as a nearly twenty-something myself, I found myself thanking my father’s influence on my music taste as I belted along.
As bahng bowed out for the evening, the cool blues of the lights faded to a dim gray- but this did nothing to deter the audience, who promptly jumped into cheers asking for just “one more song,” to which hannah delivered. Returning for a vibrant performance of “perfect blues,” the carefree joy felt in the room was tangible.
A room full of folks young and old gathered to celebrate the promising start of something beautiful, singing in tandem to the first song of her professional career- the promising creative sway of hannah bahng was in full effect as her first official concert in New York came to an end.
hannah bahng – Mercury Lounge – The Worst Night Of Your Life – Thursday, December 5, 2024
