Bleachers walk out as a six-piece, but lead man Jack Antonoff takes all the eyes in the crowd. The other members of the band wait in darkness while Jack stands under a lit sign that says, "RECORDING STUDIO IN USE." The crowd hollers, but he's focused on staring upwards; he's setting up our scene. The title of the tour is, "From the Studio to the Stage: Bleachers," which hints at a show that is vulnerable while being recklessly fun.
If there's one thing Antonoff knows, it's fun. In fact, that's where he first found his spotlight, being one of the core members of Fun., a band known best for their song, "We Are Young." Most remember the unique lead singer, Nate Ruess, when they think of Fun., but Antonoff was silently working in the background, creating his own project while on tour with the band that would erupt in 2014 with the single, "I Wanna Get Better." He attributes their storyline to something that of the Breakfast Club or Ferris Bueller's Day Off films, with a hair of vintage aesthetic grounded in the carelessness of being young.
If their music is supposed to make you feel like a main character, then their shows should have a certain cinema to them. Antonoff doesn't lean too hard into the dramatics, but there are stories written all over the stage: a large flag with a tomato on it, a disco ball and a checkerboard floor that can only be seen from above. It's a mix between a high school gym and the band room, at moments spacious and intimate.
Jack is 40-years-old, but he acts like an Andrew Clark or Ferris Bueller on stage, always moving and giggling and interacting with his audience. He occasionally stays in front of his mic when playing guitar, but as soon as he's able, he'll run around stage and get face-to-face with his band members. Even with Jack at the helm, his two saxophone players frequently steal our attention, firing notes at each other or leaning back together for big solos. There's enough sax in the show to prompt someone in the front row to hold up a two-sided sign that says "More sax" on one side and "Less sax" on the other. Jack exclaims, "Maybe you should've gone to a Drake show where there's less sax, but a chance to get $50,000 from the stage." They all laugh at the absurdity of there ever being too much sax, but Jack acknowledges the sign throughout the night, warning when there will be more or less saxophone in an oncoming song.
While Bleachers is his baby, Jack Antonoff is perhaps best known for being a songwriter and producer for A-list pop stars. He is most notably a part of Taylor Swift's regular songwriting team, with his name all over the credits for Reputation, Folklore, Evermore, Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department. There are a handful of people in the crowd wearing Taylor Swift merch. He also works with Lorde, Lana Del Rey, Clairo, Florence + the Machine and more. Most recently, he has been credited on the production for Kendrick Lamar's diss track, "6:16 in LA."
Like Antonoff, Samia is the star of the show, even with five band members surrounding her. She's a perfect fit for Madison as an indie pop rock singer and an especially great fit for Bleachers fans, even with the much more mellow and sad nature of her songs. While Bleachers bring huge energy and joyous outpouring in their songs, Samia quietly threatens, "I hope you marry the girl from your hometown/And I'll f--king kill her/And I'll f--king freak out" with just organ chords ringing out behind her soft voice.
Bleachers is a well-oiled machine, but they give themselves wholly to the live show, finding the ebbs and flow of each night. "This is like church to us," Antonoff exclaims. They even divert from their previous nights' setlist to add a montage of requested songs that Jack occasionally struggles to remember. Later in the setlist, he even encourages fans to get on each others' shoulders, which security hesitantly allows for one song. There are moments of laugher and playfulness, and then there are moments of trust and vulnerability, and suddenly the John Hughes movie is coming together.
Before we know it, we're arriving at the finale, where our good guys prevail and the credits roll. Jack warns us ahead of time that there won't be an encore, so it's only right to give everything for the final three songs. "Don't Take the Money" follows "I Wanna Get Better," have big exit energy, but they close out with "Stop Making This Hurt," a song all about saying goodbye. The saxophones are the last ones playing, even as the band takes a bow and exits in a clean line off the stage. Both players slowly fade out their melody until the lights come back on.
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