Boy Harsher played Elsewhere (photos, review, setlist)
An uninitiated observer at Elsewhere last Saturday night (2/2) could be forgiven for thinking they had stepped a casting call for a Bauhaus biopic: studded belts, black leather, pale faces. But the truth wasn’t too far off: they were waiting giddily for a performance from gothic synth duo Boy Harsher, whose new album Careful is both sharply futuristic and deeply indebted to their post-punk forefathers.
Earlier in the evening, the crowd had been thin enough for opener NGHTCRWLR, aka Kris Esfandiari of the crossover doom metal outfit King Woman, to trudge through the crowd on the dancefloor. Her act was intimately confrontational, a potent combination of vulnerability and power that comes from prowling the floor in nothing but a sports bra and shorts, screaming over the sound of children singing and synths rumbling. It was a perfectly tactile lead up to a band whose sounds more often than not feel hauntingly ethereal.
By the time Boy Harsher took the stage, the sold-out show was packed into the main hall. The crowded floor almost threatened to stifle the audience, who seemed primed and ready to thrash around even as the band opened with slower tracks, like album opener “Keep Driving.” By the time the band hit its stride, with the propellant, synth-driven Closer track “Tears,” the crowd was at full velocity, feeding into frontwoman Jae Matthews’s energy on stage. Screams of “Yaaas girl!” could be heard from the front of the crowd; for her part, Matthews never played anything too loose, keeping quiet except for a few “thank you”s in between songs. But her vocals, deep and brooding, which she emphasized by stomping her feet in unison, spoke for themselves. By the end of the night, the band had used everything from rain sticks to vocoders to bring their new album to life. But for even the casual fan, the show was a worthy introduction to the band, as they saved their biggest hit, 2018’s “Pain,” for a brief but frenzied encore. It was an enthusiastic introduction for the uninitiated, and a celebration for those who had been with them from the beginning.
Check out pictures from the night in the gallery above, and setlist is below. Boy Harsher’s tour with NGHTCRWLR hits Raleigh, NC tonight and runs through February 13 in Montreal. They’ll then head to Europe before returning to North America for a much more extensive tour with Special Interest. All tour dates are listed, with a stream of Careful, below.
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SETLIST: BOY HARSHER @ ELSEWHERE HALL 2/2/2019
Keep Driving
A Realness
Fate
Tears
Suitor
Westerners
Come Closer
Modulations
Tower
LA
Jerry
Lost
Encore: Pain
BOY HARSHER – 2019 TOUR DATES
02-05 Raleigh, NC – Kings *
02-06 Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery *
02-07 Cleveland, OH – Now That’s Class *
02-08 Chicago, IL – The Empty Bottle * SOLD OUT
02-09 Minneapolis, MN – Loring *
02-10 Chicago, IL – The Empty Bottle *
02-11 Detroit, MI – El Club *
02-12 Toronto, ON – The Garrison *
02-13 Montreal, QC – Bar Le Ritz *
02-21 Hamburg, DE – Turmzimmer # SOLD OUT
02-22 Amsterdam, NL – Melkweg # SOLD OUT
02-23 St. Maló , FR – La Route Du Rock Festival
02-24 Bristol, UK – Lanes #
02-25 Leeds, UK – Wharf Chambers #
02-26 Manchester, UK – Soup Kitchen #
02-27 London, UK – Heaven #
02-28 Lille, FR – L’Aeronef #
03-01 Nancy, FR – L’Autre Canal #
03-02 Paris, FR – Badaboum # SOLD OUT
03-03 Lyon, FR – Le Sucre
03-04 Heidelberg, DE – Karlstorbahnhof #
03-05 Berlin, DE – Berghain # SOLD OUT
03-06 Leipzig, DE – UT Connewitz # SOLD OUT
03-07 Augsburg, DE – Kantine #
03-08 Cologne, DE – Artheater # SOLD OUT
03-09 Brussels, BE – Rotondes #
03-10 Berlin, DE – Urban Spree # SOLD OUT
03-20 San Diego, CA – The Casbah §
03-21 Los Angeles, CA – The Regent Theater §
03-22 Las Vegas, NV – Beauty Bar §
03-23 Phoenix, AZ – Rebel Lounge §
03-24 Tucson, AZ – Club Congress §
03-25 El Paso, TX – Love Buzz §
03-27 Dallas, TX – Deep Ellum Art Co §
03-28 San Antonio, TX – Paper Tiger §
03-29 Austin, TX – Barracuda §
03-30 Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall §
03-31 New Orleans, LA – Santos %
04-02 Gainesville, FL – The Atlantic %
04-03 Miami, FL – Gramps %
04-04 Orlando, FL – Stonewall %
04-05 Tampa, FL – Crowbar %
04-06 Atlanta, GA – 529 %
04-07 Nashville, TN – DRKMTTR %
04-08 St Louis, MO – The Ready Room %
04-09 Wichita, KS – Barleycorn’s %
04-10 Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge %
04-12 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom %
04-13 Seattle, WA – Highline %
04-14 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre %
04-17 San Francisco, CA – The Independent %
04-18 Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst Atrium %
04-20 Tijuana, MX – Black Box %
* w/ NGHTCRWLR
# w/ KONTRAVOID
§ w/ BOAN
% w/ SPECIAL INTEREST
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photos by Luis Nieto Dickens
