Jai Paul played his first headline shows ever at Knockdown Center & Brooklyn Steel (pics, setlist, video)

After his first live performances ever at Coachella, enigmatic British producer Jai Paul played his first-ever headline shows this week in NYC, hitting Knockdown Center on Tuesday and Brooklyn Steel on Wednesday. He was backed by a band that included Paul’s brother A.K. Paul on guitar, Pino Palladino's children Rocco Palladino (bass) and the Fabiana Palladino (keyboards), and drummer Isaac Kizito, and both shows had the exact same 14-song setlist.

Here's a bit of The New York Times' review of the Knockdown Center show:

When the opening woos and coos of “BTSTU” kicked in, it was hard not to instinctually anticipate the opening lines of Drake’s “Dreams Money Can Buy,” which is built upon a sample of this song. But when Paul sang “I know I’ve been gone a long time/But I’m back and I want what is mine” — words he wrote in 2010, when the song’s first demo was discovered on MySpace, or maybe even earlier — it was a refreshing moment of defiance, an assertion of presence from a performer who seemed unsure of how heavy a footprint to leave.

The night’s closer, “Str8 Outta Mumbai,” is one of Paul’s most ornate and energetic songs, a rocket ship launch of exuberance and payoff for years of anticipation. The joy it triggered was so dizzying that it was hard to believe it was the conclusion. It was a neat trick from someone ambivalent about the spotlight — leave the audience on a floating high, and sneakily retreat back to the realm of imagination.

Check out photos from Brooklyn Steel by Sachyn Mital as well as the setlist and videos from both NYC shows below.

SETLIST: Jai Paul @ Brooklyn Steel 4/26/2023
Higher Res (Big Boi cover)
He
Crush (Jennifer Paige cover)
100,000
So Long
Chix
All Night
Zion Wolf Theme
Good Time
Genevieve
Do You Love Her Now
Jasmine
BTSTU
Str8 Outta Mumbai