beabadoobee with Christian Leave and Blackstarkids
Webster Hall
New York, NY
November 4th, 2021
On the evening of November 4th, I arrived at Webster Hall for a sold out performance from British-Filipino singer beabadoobee. Accompanied by Blackstarkids and Christian Leave, the evening was sure to be a good one.
I entered the venue and immediately noticed a merch line of at least 100 hundred people that wrapped throughout the venue. I’d never seen anything quite like it and, quite frankly, having never heard of the artist, I was pleasantly surprised at the cult-like following that I was seeing inside the venue. I climbed the stairs to the second floor, and the main concert hall area, and already, the floor was packed.
At 8pm, St. Louis, Missouri based trio, Blackstarkids, took to the stage. Their indie/hip-hop fusion music electrified the crowd, as I stood in the photo pit trying to capture the essence of their performance while the floor beneath me was bouncing uncontrollably. Fans were dancing and jumping around with smiles strapped across their faces. The energy was infectious and the nostalgia was real, as the trio performed their 90’s inspired hits like “Frankie Muniz”, “Jimmy Neutron” and “Fight Club”. It was a joyous occasion inside Webster Hall that evening and Blackstarkids really set the bar high with their performance.
Up next, hailing from Wichita Falls, Texas was indie-rock singer/songwriter, Christian Leave. Immediately upon taking the stage, it was clear to me that the 21-year old singer had quite some fans of his own in the audience that evening. Young girls along the barricade were screaming words of adoration at Christian in between songs and every so often, Christian would indulge his fans along the barricade by giving them a smirk, wink or head nod. Christian Leave’s performance reminded me of the early 1975 music and Arctic Monkey’s iconic AM album that I grew up listening to. It was a strange, but nice feeling watching the next generation of teen indie-rock music right before my eyes. Christian played a captivating 45 minute set that was chock full of fan favorites, including “10 Steps”, “Bedache” and “Heart Melt” before departing the stage.
Finally, the main act of the night was just about to begin. The stage had been cleared of everything but three mic stands, a drum set and a few amps — clean and simple. Beabadoobee took to the stage and immediately ripped into “Sun More Often”, wasting no time she blew three the first ¼ of her setlist before taking a moment to introduce herself to the crowd. Her small frame and soft tone took me by surprise given the high energy sound of her music and performance that evening.
Going into the show, I had no idea what to expect. I had never heard of beabadoobee before, but I was a clean slate, ready to be converted into a new fan and that is exactly what happened that evening. Beabadoobee’s 15 song setlist captured my attention every step of the way, including some personal favorites “Tired” and “Last Day On Earth”.
That evening, I was introduced to three brand new artists back to back. I loved every second of every performance that I saw and it was exhilarating seeing this fresh, young, new era of music coming up in the industry. It will be truly exciting to see where all three of the artists that performed that evening go with their careers!
Blackstarkids
Christian Leave
beabadoobee
