British rock band Bôa took over Majestic Theatre with a sold-out show May 12, lighting up the audience with a mix of hard-hitting grunge and emotional ballads, proving that even after a 20-year hiatus, the group hasn’t lost their touch.
Originally formed in 1993, the band released two albums, “Twilight” in 2001, and “Get There” in 2005. But due to creative differences and solo work, they went on hiatus the same year.
In 2023, the band found new life through TikTok. Their 1998 single “Duvet” was used in nearly 400,000 videos and was racking up seven million streams per week. Alex Caird, lead bassist of Bôa, said he only realized how big their resurgence was when record labels started asking the band to make more music.
Now, Bôa is on the road for their newest international tour. Their new album “Whiplash” has amassed over 10 million streams on Spotify and "Duvet” has received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America, marking 1 million units sold.
When Bôa strutted onto stage amidst a sold-out show of 600 screaming fans on May 12, they instantly captured the crowd. They led their 17 song show with “Deeply,” a deeply personal song that uses its hard, progressive chords to highlight lead singer Jasmine Rodgers’ swooning vocals and heightened anger. Its spartan start leads into crescendoing vocal movements reminiscent of The Cranberries, making for a perfect opener.
Without a moment of hesitation, the band moved into “Whiplash,” the title song off their 2024 album. If “Deeply” was a plea for connection, “Whiplash” is the aftermath. Rodgers implores the listener to “Take me as I am… Take me as I bleed,” while a tight-laced backing drives her forward, almost as if trying to push through the pain.
Despite debuting with a hard edge, the band didn’t stay that way the entire night. While performing “Beautiful and Broken,” Rodgers traded her electric guitar for an acoustic, using her soothing vocals and a contemplative violin to navigate through her experience growing up with Japanese and British parents and the isolating, confusing aspects that came with it.
“I’m still always reviewing and assessing that,” she told Flood Magazine in a 2024 interview. “It’s about a really dark time in my brain, talking to the darkness just before you go to sleep, when you can’t sleep and are trying to find comfort.”
Turning to the predominantly Gen Z audience, Rodgers took one of only a few pauses throughout the concert to thank everyone in attendance. “We wouldn’t be here today without your support,” she said as a wave of cheers and thanks crashed through the crowd.
The energy in the room only seemed to grow as the performance went on until seemingly reaching its crescendo with an electric and room-shaking performance of “Fool,” which uses an almost mystical bass and guitar backing, along with snappy and precise drumming to further explore Rodgers’ experience of being mixed-race. In the opening lyrics, she sings that she was “Born an Eastern girl in a Western world.”
After a false ending, the energy in the room heightened further with renditions of Bôa’s three most popular songs: “Twilight,” “Walk With Me” and “Duvet.” All three utilize Bôa’s distinctive mix of dreamy vocals and hard-hitting backing to create three distinctly unique melodic atmospheres. While “Duvet” might be the backing to a 1990s romance, “Twilight” is the ultimate breakup song.
Bôa sent the show off with an extended version of “Duvet,” inviting the crowd to sing along with Rodgers through bent variations and tonal explorations of the hit song.
Leaving the stage to pounding applause, Bôa proves to Madison — and the world — that even after a two decade hiatus, they have not just held their ground, but leveled up, flexing their creative muscles in the exploration of new genres, sounds and themes that only two decades apart could give them.
