If I'm Dancing in the Photo Pit, You Know It's a Good One: Bleachers at MGM Music Hall
Photographer: Nathan Smith
With Boston filled to the brim with night entertainment, Bleachers had zero competition filling MGM Music Hall with dedicated fans. With an infectious joy spreading throughout their set, Bleachers made it a night for Boston would never forget.
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Boston on Wednesday night was a lot. The World Cup is in town, the Red Sox were playing a home game, and Fenway Park's surrounding streets were operating at a level of energy that felt genuinely overstimulating. Somewhere in the middle of all of it, Jack Antonoff was getting ready to play the second of two nights at MGM Music Hall. The city had a lot going on. Bleachers were worth finding your way to anyway.
I've been a fan of Jack Antonoff's work for years, both as the leader of Bleachers and as one of the biggest producers in pop music right now. Melodrama, Masseduction, Norman Fucking Rockwell, some of the best pop albums of the 21st century have his production stamp, and the foothold he has over the genre is genuinely impressive. Walking into Wednesday night knowing all of that and having never seen Bleachers live before, the expectation was high. They cleared that bar easily.
The stage itself was a sight to see. Three levels, six pianos, two drum kits, guitars and saxophones covering every available surface. It looked like a stage designed by someone who genuinely couldn't decide which instrument to play and simply decided to have all of them. What it set up was one of the most infectious and joyful shows of the year. If I'm dancing in the photo pit while trying to take photos, that tells you something about the energy in the room.
Antonoff himself moved constantly throughout the set, switching between a half dozen guitars, sitting at various pianos, and stripping everything back to just himself at the barricade with a microphone. He doesn't talk much between songs. But that tracks when you realize he's fitting 23 songs into two hours, and the show doesn't lend itself to dead air. He also doesn't make the evening about himself in the way some frontmen do. Saxophone solos, guitar features from other players, moments where the band takes over entirely, Bleachers performs truly like a band, with Antonoff as the conductor more than the star.
Their newest album everyone for ten minutes, released less than a month ago, showed up on much of the setlist, and the new material sounded great in a live setting. But the crowd, a dedicated and clearly well-traveled fanbase who knew every word regardless of when the song came out, went most crazy for the catalog staples. "Rollercoaster," "Don't Take the Money," and "I Wanna Get Better" each had even the most casual of fans singing along. "Stop Making This Hurt" closed the night and sent a near-capacity MGM Music Hall home more energized than you typically find yourself on a Wednesday night.
Night two of a two-night run in Boston's biggest non-arena venue, with the World Cup and the Red Sox competing for the city's attention. Bleachers filled the room anyway, and made it feel like the best place in town Wednesday night in June.
Article by: Nathan Smith
Plug In. Tune Out.
Bleachers is an energetic American indie pop/rock project formed in 2013 by Grammy-winning producer and songwriter Jack Antonoff. The band is celebrated for its massive, anthemic sound that blends 1980s synth-pop, heartland rock, and modern production. Originally started as Antonoff’s solo outlet, the band operates as a tight-knit six-piece band for recordings and live performances.