On Monday night, we caught Whitney at an intimate, sold-out show at Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right. Announced just last week among four New York shows, the Chicago band put on one of the best concerts Brooklyn’s seen in a minute. We’ve caught Whitney a few times before, but this new set made up of largely unreleased material was a force that predicts new, incredible territory for the band.
Renee Reed opened up the show with a gorgeous set that left her on stage with only her and her guitar. Her songs are full of emotion about life, loss, sorrow, and joy, and she certainly won all of the fans over by the end of her set.
Finally, it was time for Whitney. The band made this tour a phone-free experience, so all that I had was my camera and the setlist I borrowed from the stage to remember the night by. It was certainly a strange yet unique experience, but one that created a more intimate and intentional atmosphere as fans couldn’t stay on their phones to keep them entertained throughout the set.
This tour is not in support of any album, but rather a teaser of what is to come. The band played a roughly twenty-song set with half old songs from their two albums, Light Upon The Lake and Forever Turned Around, and half songs from their next two albums. In between songs, frontman Julien Ehrlich would introduce the new ones by saying a sentence or two about the song’s meaning and origin. I have to say that based on this new material, it’s hard not to be excited about what Whitney is coming out with next. The new songs have the same folksy, breezy atmosphere that the band is known for, but many of them incorporate sounds and instruments that I would not have expected. They seem to have been more influenced by hip-hop beats on the new songs and they scratch a certain type of itch that the band hasn’t previously explored. While the next album is unannounced (and Ehrlich said they are still mixing and mastering it at the show), the band mentioned that fans should expect something by the end of next year. Based on this night in Brooklyn, we are very excited. Check out photo coverage of the show below, and find dates for the rest of Whitney’s tour here:
Photos and words by Susie McKeon.
