Last weekend, Nashville electropop duo CHERUB graced the Majestic Theatre with two back-to-back, sold-out shows. I was fortunate enough to be in attendance for both of these legendary nights.
On Friday, Sept. 12th, an eclectic crowd packed the Majestic early, eagerly anticipating a night of electrified bliss. The crowd was composed of mainly students willing to replace a typical Friday night of partying with the show, as well as some “serious” electronic music fans who were definitely not strangers to CHERUB’s live show. The doors opened at 9 p.m., so when singer/songwriter/producer GiBBZ took the stage at 10, the standing room was on its way to filling up, and the crowd was already pretty wired.
GiBBZ’s set was a delightful medley of soulful singing, live guitar and electronic music. The fedora that adorned his head when he took the stage didn’t stay on longer than the first song, presumably because that sort of headwear would have hindered GiBBZ’ ability to run around the stage as ecstatically, swinging his head back and forth and interacting with everybody in the front row. The mixture of live guitar and electronic music reminded me a lot of CHERUB stylistically, making GiBBZ a perfect opener for the show. Ultimately, GiBBZ delivered a successful opening set because he followed through on the most important duty of a supporting act: to get everyone in the audience dancing and energized in anticipation of the rest of the show.
GiBBZ was followed by Ghost Beach, a synth-pop group whose sound also reminded me a lot of CHERUB’s, again with their own energized flavor. They were the only act on the bill with a live drummer, allowing them to put out some seriously funky “rock ‘n’ roll” vibes that took the energy Gibbz had lent to the crowd and amplified it. As far as I knew, not many people in the crowd were familiar with their music, as I didn’t really see anybody singing along. Regardless, a combination of CHERUB’s soon-approaching set and Ghost Beach’s powerful “wall of sound” had everybody amped.
I was enjoying the set immensely. However, a lot of people in the front of the room, most of whom had probably had a bit too much to drink, were not. Elbows started flying as people tried to wedge themselves closer to the stage for CHERUB’s set. A couple of fights started to break out in the crowd. Luckily, the majority of the crowd was respectful to each other. These altercations, which could have easily ended with bloody knuckles and broken noses, ended with other concert-goers placing themselves in the middle to calm everybody down.
It was fortunate that the crowd was ready and eager for a late night out, because it was past midnight before CHERUB graced the stage Friday. Interestingly, CHERUB opened their first show with “<3,” one of the slower songs from their most recent album Year of the Caprese. Although I am a fan of the song, I had expected a much more energized and rowdy start to the show, especially when it was followed by “Work the Middle,” which brought out their inner funk but was still pretty mellow.
Perhaps CHERUB just wanted to give the crowd a chance to warm up. If that’s the case, it worked, because the third song of their set, “Disco Shit,” really showed me what CHERUB was capable of. Starting with a driving club beat before the falsetto vocals kicked in, he Majestic was soon on another level. The song featured a much heavier bass track than on the album, as well as a very impressive funk-influenced guitar solo.
Tragically, the performance was plagued with technological difficulties, as the vocals were virtually inaudible. Jason Huber stopped the song, apologized to the crowd and resolved the situation. While it is unfortunate that the groovy vibes had to be interrupted, live shows are entirely contingent upon working equipment, these things happen, and the crowd was very understanding.
CHERUB’s set progressed with a steady variety of energetic and slow songs, including “Disco Inferno,” “Monogamy” and “Strip to This.” Their performance of “Do I” included an extremely impressive bass solo, accompanied by a high-pitched proclamation that “the times are a-changin,” which is either a coincidence or an effective shout-out to legendary songwriter Bob Dylan.
As we entered the wee hours of the morning and CHERUB’s set began to work towards its closing, CHERUB showed no signs of slowing down. After giving the crowd a chance to catch their breath during sexy slow-jam “Chocolate Strawberries,” CHERUB worked their way into “XOXO” with a dynamic call-and-response a cappella rendition of the song’s chorus.
What came next was the moment everyone had been waiting for. CHERUB closed their set with their monumental hit “Doses & Mimosas,” and the crowd’s energy hit an all-time high. Jordan Kelley ran around the stage, repeatedly popping bottles of champagne and showering the audience with sparkling alcoholic bliss. An encore was inevitable, and the band returned to the stage to finish the night off with another crowd favorite, “Obviously.” This song was originally a collaboration between CHERUB and EDM producer Gramatik, and its high energy and cutting synth melodies gave the Majestic crowd one last chance to dance like madmen before departing on a chilly 40 degree walk home.
Coming back to the Majestic the next night to do it all over again was surreal, and at times it felt like a different show entirely. I recognized a ton of familiar faces from the first show who had come back for more. Overall, the audience on Saturday night seemed to have a higher concentration of serious electronic music enthusiasts, many of whom I recognized solely from seeing them at practically every EDM show I have attended in Madison. The excessively drunk guys in Hawaiian shirts and bucket hats from Friday night’s show stayed home on Saturday, making life a little bit easier for the rest of the crowd.
Once again, GiBBZ and Ghost Beach put on an incredible show. Although the tension among Friday’s audience was due to a select few jerks, and was otherwise a peaceful experience, Saturday’s audience was generally much more respectful and friendly to each other. This set the stage for a night of positive energy. No elbows, no fights, and no uncomfortable surges of people attempting to wedge themselves up to the front. This crowd showed up to dance and sing their hearts out, plain and simple.
CHERUB must have known this, because when they opened their set, they wasted no time with slow songs. They opened with “Disco Shit,” walking onto the stage to the soundtrack of a bumping bass track to greet their already-dancing audience. This was followed by a few equally energetic songs that CHERUB had played the night before, including “Disco Inferno” and “Tonight.” Additionally, they played a few new songs that I didn’t recognize, and that I had not heard the night before. Overall, while I had no qualms with the energy level of Friday’s crowd, the bar was raised on Saturday.
Everybody in the venue seemed to be more familiar with CHERUB’s music, and there were far more people throughout the crowd who sang along to nearly every word. CHERUB didn’t play as many slow songs as they had the previous night. This was probably for the better, because the crowd was not looking to slow down. The energy remained through the roof until the end of the show, when Cherub closed with the same duo of “XOXO” and “Doses & Mimosas” as the night before. Once again, soaked in champagne and nearing 2 a.m., we knew that an encore was inevitable. CHERUB returned to the stage to play “<3,” the mellow tune that had opened Friday night’s show. While everyone in the crowd was happy to end their night with this song, many fans were disappointed that the band had omitted “Obviously” from their setlist, as it had served as a perfectly rowdy encore to end Friday night’s show.
Both nights, CHERUB announced their monumental love and appreciation for their fans in Madison. They proclaimed that Madison is indeed their favorite place to play, and after seeing the love that Madison showed them in return, I don’t have a hard time believing them.
