photo by @maliakova.m on Instagram

Brockhampton began three-night sold-out Irving Plaza run (night 1 review)

February 3, 2018

photo by @maliakova.m on Instagram

If there’s anything more enthusiastic than Brockhampton‘s music, it’s definitely their fans. Ahead of their first of three nights at NYC’s Irving Plaza on Friday (2/2), many eager concertgoers braved the blistering cold to secure a spot in line, some of whom waited since early in the morning, covered in blankets. In addition, several fans showed up with their faces decorated with the group’s signature blue facepaint (like Brockhampton themselves did on TRL a day earlier). The general admission line wrapped around the block twice, and was a great visual representation of the immense cult following the “boy band” has amassed.

When they finally let people into the warm building, the hype was tangible among the crowd, even before the show actually began. Whenever a projection of the band’s “Love Your Parents” promotional poster appeared on Irving Plaza’s main screen, the audience would momentarily cheer in excitement. Some audience members started a “fix your teeth” chant for Brockhampton leader Kevin Abstract (which Kevin acknowledged from backstage and called the chant “weak” in a now-deleted tweet).

When it was time for the show to start, the entire venue was deafeningly loud, as fans screamed upon seeing member Ameer Vann take the stage. Shortly after, the group burst into fan favorite “Boogie,” before Kevin Abstract led the passionate crowd in a “fuck Pitchfork!” chant. The group then tore through many more bangers from the Saturation trilogy. The crowd was just as rowdy as you would expect, and there were several mosh pits that formed throughout the show, per Kevin Abstract’s requests. Kevin went on to say that the show’s final pit was “the best circle we’ve ever seen,” before jumping into the aggressive “Heat,” where the group performed the same hunched-over swaying moves featured at the end of the song’s music video.

Similar to the last time Brockhampton played NYC, they did two encores, one subdued encore with singer/guitarist Bearface and one rowdy encore that included multiple performances of “Star.” Bearface performed the dazzling ballad “Summer” off Saturation II. The track’s beautiful guitar solo echoed throughout the room, instantly putting many audience members in a trance-like state of blissful awe. Then the rest of the group came back for that second encore, which was probably the highlight of the whole show. During one of the “Star” performances, Matt Champion climbed on top of a speaker and greeted adoring fans on the balcony. When the show finally came to a close, the audience was still bursting with energy, and it seemed like it wouldn’t be too bad if the group had gone on performing forever.

Some videos and a few more pics from the show are below. Brockhampton play Irving Plaza again tonight (2/3) and Sunday (2/4), and then their tour continues through March. They’ll be back in NYC for Governors Ball (who also presented these Irving Plaza shows) in June.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeuJc42FjgS/?taken-at=262783

https://www.instagram.com/p/Beua1IlAQvu/?taken-at=262783

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeuKpHbh0Vw/?taken-at=262783