Gnash w/ Sweater Beats, Max, Goody Grace, Imad Royal, Triangle Park, Myboyjon
Neptune, Seattle, WA
05.06.17

Two seems to be the golden number of openers for nearly any concert. One can make the night feel a little quick, three can feel excessive, but two usually hits the sweet spot. Gnash brought five. Instead of picking seemingly random opening acts, it was more just a big group of friends, all who were featured somewhere in each other’s work at one point or another. Singing on and producing all his own music, Gnash has been releasing EP’s with lyrics that will somehow create and cure a broken heart at the same time.

The first friend to open The Sleepover Tour (to which everyone was invited to wear their pajamas of course) was Triangle Park, a laid-back producer who got the night rolling with just three quick tracks, bringing out Myboyjon for the last two.

Next up was Imad Royal, a performance I don’t think anyone was ready for. From the first bass drop to his last wave goodbye, Royal was jumping and dancing around the stage nonstop, properly hyping the crowd with his catchy sing-along tunes and fun beats. His performance was like Somo’s, that Seattle saw in November, but generally more upbeat and sassy.

Royal had the kind of energetic performance that you could watch 25 times and never get bored of, a set that everyone in the crowd posted Snapchats and photos of with the word “lit” somewhere in the caption, which is a pretty accurate way to describe it. In case you weren’t a fan though, he brought Gnash out for his first appearance of the night to sing and party to their version of “Bad For You.” With a killer smile and an even better performance, Imad Royal was the hidden gem of the night.

The night then slowed down a little with Goody Grace. Not “slowed down” in that it got boring, but “slowed down” with the beautifully cute acoustic tunes that he performs. While his set was vastly different than his two predecessors, he held his own with lovely, delicate tracks like “We Pretend,” and a little preview to “Two Shots,” that would be played slightly differently later in the night.

Suddenly spinning in a completely different direction, Max ran right on stage with a confidently sassy attitude that immediately captured the crowd. Describing this Seattle performance as “nutritious” (then explaining that he gives each city a new adjective), his set was filled with hard-hitting pop songs paired perfectly with equally talented dance moves to create a performance dripping with personality and excitement. The crowd, of course, ate it up. They jumped and danced to each song, and screamed with excitement as Max stepped onto the barricade at the end of his performance.

Last up for the openers was Sweater Beats, the DJ of the group. He mixed everything from Louis the Child and Fall Out Boy to Mø and many more. His set went all over the place but remained on the more mellow side, a nice break for the crowd. This atmosphere changed quickly when he brought Max back out to sing on their collaborative track, “Did You Wrong.”

The stage was finally set for Gnash, aesthetic complete with a big pastel colored dresser, glowing white TP, and fairy lights wrapped around his mic stand. The singer came on stage to sit amongst the pillows in his TP, disposable camera in hand, before singing the intro to “Lonely Again.” The track was the first of many that featured lyrics about sadness, loneliness, and heartbreak. While a beat gets added into the songs and they do build up a little, the thinner kind of plainness to them works perfectly for the calm songs.

After a handful of opening songs, Gnash welcomed Goody Grace back on stage to perform some of their tracks. They started off with more sad love songs, but eventually built up to the collabo version of “Two Shots,” during which the crowd avidly jumped along and chanted the lyrics.

“Ilusm” is one of Gnash’s prettiest soft tracks, and opening the encore with him playing that on the piano was simply lovely. With everyone singing along to the floaty tune and smooth vocals, the whole venue was filled more with the singing from the crowd than his own voice. Then finally of course “i hate u, i love u” “for all you fake fans,” had the majority of the crowd singing along before the final song of the night. To finish off the night, Gnash brought out all the other performers for the giant party of “fuck me up.” With middle fingers in the air and sore throats, everyone got in the last cheers they could manage.

Admittedly, looking at The Neptune’s website earlier that day and seeing a long list of openers made the performance significantly less desirable, but Gnash pulled it together well. The sets rushed by in a blur, each artist bringing their own style and strong suits to their performances, creating a night that was all over the place in the best way. It’s not difficult to see how this group of talented performers sold out in Seattle for a wonderful night filled with everything from party songs meant to be danced to, to slow songs that surely shed some tears.

Review and photos by Lulu Dawson

Gnash w/ Sweater Beats, Max, Goody Grace, Imad Royal, Triangle Park, Myboyjon