Glass Animals @ The Brooklyn Mirage - Brooklyn, NY
September 8th 2022: Glass Animals @ The Brooklyn Mirage: Brooklyn, NY
Glass Animals - Photo and Show Coverage courtesy of Em Grey
Last month, English experimental indie pop group Glass Animals brought their Dreamland set to Brooklyn’s Mirage. Spanning quite a few different spaces, Glass Animals took advantage of it, providing gorgeous neon art installations in several areas of the venue for all the fans to take photos with. A dreamlike fog was pumped throughout the venue, and the whole experience was an all-encompassing artistic concept. They took full advantage of the giant LED screen the Mirage had to offer, while also incorporating a lot of their own large set pieces, which included a TV, a diving board, and the illusion of a pool. The setlist included all their greatest hits from Dreamland and How to Be a Human Being, and even included some throwbacks to the Zaba era.
This was the second night of two nights in Brooklyn, the last of the shows in the US for quite a bit according to frontman Dave Bayley, emphasizing how important the night was to him. The crowd included fans who traveled across the globe to be at this show, and it was easy to tell how important the night was to them as well. The energy of the crowd in the large venue never wavered, and even as the show ended, fans pouring out of the venue were still buzzing about the technicolor dream they had just been a part of.
Mitski @ Radio City Music Hall - NYC
July 23rd 2022: Mitski @ Radio City Music Hall: New York City, NY
Mitski - Photos Courtesy of Em Grey
Last Friday - singer-songwriter Mitski played her largest show in NYC's iconic Radio City Music Hall, dazzling thousands of fans with her boisterous indie rock along with her emotional crooning vocals. Arriving at the venue on time, I witnessed the longest merch line I had ever seen at a Mitski show in my career; I have been lucky enough to see this very well-deserved artist garner a massive fanbase, going from DIY venues to touring with Lorde and headlining (and selling out) two nights at Radio City herself. Knowing Mitski, this is a perfect venue for her, as her shows err on the side of theatrical and emotional compared to her genremates.
Canadian folk band The Weather Station opened the night up, citing "this is the largest venue we have ever played." They delivered a beautifully composed set, with frontman Tamara Hope donning a mirrored blazer halfway through the set, providing gorgeous reflections and visuals throughout the entire hall. The crowd bobbed along excitedly, with anticipation bubbling in the crowd.
Mitski arrived on stage at 9:10, in front of a single set piece of a door in front of the stage drapes.
Opening the night with "Love Me More", the set included a wonderful blend of previous releases aside from the focus on her newest album release "Laurel Hell." The set saw many songs from "Puberty 2", "Be the Cowboy", and even "Bury Me at Makeout Creek." Her self-released albums from 2012-2013 did not make it to the setlist, though. Seeing Mitski is and always has been a magical treat; she's truly an artist I've seen in almost every format and venue size and each time felt similarly emotionally impacted. This show was packed full of female fans passionately mouthing lyrics at each other along with her, clearly having the absolute time of their lives.
LadyLand Festival 2022 - Brooklyn, NY
June 17th 2022: LadyLand Festival @ The Brooklyn Mirage
Photos courtesy of: Em Grey
Ladyland is a yearly queer music festival hosted by Ladyfag - boasting heaps of queer talent on its lineup and held at the outdoors Brooklyn Mirage. For one night only during pride month, partygoers can dance all their worries away from 8 pm to the hours of the next morning. This is my third year attending this festival - and it's an amazing time with beautiful energy every time. This year they sprung for an impressive giant LED screen wrapping all around the stage, showing gorgeous visuals during all the sets that kept the entire experience immersive and packed with good vibes (and even a confetti condom cannon.)
Previously boasting alternative talent the likes of King Princess, Kim Petras, Pablo Vittar, Caroline Polachek, and SOPHIE - this year’s lineup was no different in its star power. Headlined by pop icon Tinashe and DJ Honey Dijon, Ladyland has an impressive main stage, but also equally exciting lineups in two smaller areas of the venue - King's Hall and the Village. When I arrived around 9 pm - Stiletto was kicking the night off with a banging DJ set. Shortly after - Brooke Candy strolled onto the stage with two backup dancers in tow, absolutely serving us the performance that we needed.
Despite the schedule running a little bit late, that did not dampen a single person's spirits. Vanessa Vanjie took the stage next armed with a bottle of tequila, filling up the cups of many at the barricade as well as pouring it directly into fan'’ mouths. Shygirl captivated the audience next with her hypnotizing vocals and hyper-pop sound. The anticipation had been building all night - by this time the place was getting pretty packed and the energy was buzzing in the air. Sevdaliza, despite being able to have her full band with her due to visa issues, put on an energetic performance with beautiful cinematic visuals on the giant screen behind her. By the time Tinashe took the stage - the crowd was completely ready to absolutely go all out. Tinashe brought a slew of backup dancers and choreographed dances, keeping the energy up at insane levels for the rest of the night. As an ally, I love being able to celebrate members of the LGBTQIA+ community like this - it's always lots of love and joy and immensely welcoming in a way that other festivals can't quite live up to.
