Bleachers take you out
tonight and forever
Written by Ashley Wehrs Graphic by Emma A. Walker
“And I did it my way…”, Frank Sinatra belted through the speakers of Atlanta’s Coca-Cola Roxy, gearing up for the well-awaited tour, Bleachers Forever.
October 5th, 8:45 p.m., Bleachers took the stage. “There’s so many of them,” Madeliene Lathrop, a first-time Bleachers concert-goer exclaimed. While popularly known for the lead singer, Jack Antonoff, the Bleachers is a band of five other great musicians: Mikey Freedom Hart, Evan Smith, Sean Hutchinson, Michael Riddleberger, and Zem Audu.
The stage was packed a chaotic yet organized playground of instruments. These instruments would ultimately catapult the room into the undeniable urge to dance. The band is notorious for combining a myriad of rock, electronic, and orchestral instruments such as drums, saxophones, and synthesizers.
Jack opened the concert from an upper left riser on the stage, jumping down into a central beam of white light. Shortly accompanied by his harmonica, Bleachers dominated the attention of the audience. The band opened with a beloved song off their newest album, “everyone for ten minutes”, called “sideways”.
The twenty-one song set covered plenty of new tracks from the May release, including “dirty wedding dress”, “we should talk”, and “take you out tonight”. Alongside the thrilled audience reaction to these songs, Bleachers made sure to hit some of their fan-favorites, “Modern Girl”, “Rollercoaster”, and “Don’t Take the Money”.
Between black and white banner drops and a well-orchestrated rotation of creative lighting, the band kept the audience on their toes with upbeat piano and saxophone transitions. The band’s chemistry and charisma held audience attention tightly.
The band excels at incorporating comedic moments throughout their show, including leading a chant competition between Georgia natives and those attending the concert from out of town. After much back and forth Jack exclaimed, “This song is about New Jersey!”, initiating the performance of “Chinatown”.
Beyond these killer tracks, a special part of the set was the including of an acoustic, “I Wanna Get Better”. While the audience basked in the soft nature of the slower version, Bleachers didn’t withhold the upbeat version. “I Wanna Get Better” returned as the second to last track.
“Georgia’s best dancers, get the fuck up!” Jack called out, heightening the audience’s already booming excitement. With an intentional and heartfelt callout of “Free Palestine!” intertwined in their closing songs, the band made their support clear. The concert ended with “Stop Making This Hurt” and of course, the most important statement of all, “Georgia and Bleachers forever!”