Bleachers Live at Madison Square Garden! // October 2024
Madison Square Garden is my favorite concert venue and I have been lucky enough to see so many incredible artists there over the years! The energy is just so insane in New York City, there is nothing else in the world like it. My dad and I had such a great time, as always! The crowd at Bleachers shows are also so wonderful too, the community that surrounds this music just makes it all so much better.
The opener for this show was singer-songwriter Amy Allen, who I was very excited to be seeing perform! I wasn't too familiar with her solo music, but I have been a massive fan of her work writing with other artists such as Halsey, Selena Gomez, Harry Styles, and Sabrina Carpenter. Most recently, she worked with Jack on one of my favorite releases of the year, Sabrina's latest album Short n' Sweet.
I also looooved her Hello Kitty electric guitar - which funny enough I actually have the same one! It was so cool to see her play that guitar, I don't think I've ever seen anyone else have it before. I was so happy to see her with it on such a massive stage! She is such a talented artist and I am absolutely looking forward to diving into more of her work!
The show began with the opening track of their recent self-titled album, "I Am Right On Time". That is one of my favorite Bleachers songs ever and such a perfect way to kick off this incredible performance! One of my favorite lyrics of all time is from this song too, "My mind is mirrors, don't know what is and what's reflection, the future's past, I'm right on time". This song, and that lyric specifically, felt particularly emotional that night too, especially with it being the biggest show they've done yet.
The transition into "Modern Girl" is also just so electrifying. That song was made to be performed live and is such a major highlight of their shows. The energy Bleachers brings to every show is truly like no other! Also getting to hear New Jersey's finest New Yorker perform this song live in both New Jersey and New York in the same year is so special and something I will never forget! Much like their music is very rooted in Jack's home state of New Jersey, Bleachers' music equally draws so much deep inspiration from New York City too. It really is such a surreal experience to hear these songs live in the place that inspired so much of it.
Songs like "Goodmorning" and "Everybody Lost Somebody" are two songs that mean so much to me and hearing thousands of people all singing the words to them together is so special. All of the songs they performed from Gone Now will always mean so much to me and hearing them live, especially that night surrounded by 20,000 other people from all walks of life, felt so personally moving for me. The same goes for songs from Strange Desire like "Rollercoaster", "Wild Heart" and "I Wanna Get Better", which they also played later in the night. They do an incredible job at bringing every single song to life on stage. There is also just something so deeply moving to hear a crowd of that size all collectively scream the words "I wanna get better" over and over, or "come on motherf*cker you survived, you gotta give yourself a break", or literally any other lyric from those songs. Especially considering how this time four years ago, no one could even fathom being in a crowd of people that big again and yet there we all were. I had chills in that moment and even now thinking back as I write this. It's moments like that which remind me of all of the reasons I love live music so much and to be able to have that connection with all of those people at Madison Square Garden that night.
I also love all of the newer songs on the setlist, like "Call Me After Midnight, "Me Before You", "Self Respect", "Ordinary Heaven", to name a few. I absolutely love Bleachers self-titled album, but the live arrangements of it are somehow even better than the studio versions. That's something that actually rings true for all of Bleachers' music for me. The setlist was mostly the same as it was when I saw them a few months ago at Shadow of the City, but every time I get to hear the band perform these songs live just makes me love it even more!
"Chinatown" and "Don't Go Dark" are two songs that encapsulate everything I love about Bleachers as a band. There is such a strong feeling of nostalgia in both, especially being from the East Coast and growing up in the Tri-State Area, the essence of both New Jersey and New York are so prevalent. It's such a specific feeling their music gives that made me feel immediately connected to it years ago. When I saw Bleachers perform at Radio City, they brought out Bruce Springsteen for the first time to perform "Chinatown" together, which was such an incredibly special moment to be able to witness! I always think back to that once in a lifetime moment whenever I hear this song now. Bruce was actually in the audience for this show at MSG, which is so awesome - hopefully next time he comes out on stage again!
I feel the same way with "Don't Go Dark", which they played after. That immediately became one of my favorite songs ever when I heard it for the first time and ever since I have always adored it. Hearing those songs back-to-back is always the most amazing and joyous part of every Bleachers show.
Toward the end of the set, they performed one of my favorite songs from their latest album, "Tiny Moves". That song is pure joy, I can't even begin to express how much I adore it. I have always loved the way Jack has been able to capture small moments of life and turn it into something so much more.
They also performed "Don't Take The Money", which was the first song I remember hearing by Bleachers and one that will always be a favorite of mine. It is so electric live, I look forward to it every time I see them!
The final song of the night was the incredible "Stop Making This Hurt", which is such a perfect way to end this show. As always, it definitely took the sadness out of my Saturday Friday night!
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