Jeremy Zucker takes the audience for a ride at Royale

Jeremy Zucker

November 16, 2021 at Royale

After listening to his sophomore album CRUSHER, I realized I had to see Jeremy Zucker in concert. The indie-pop singer began his “MORE NOISE !!!!” tour in October in Portland, Oregon. When entering the venue for his show at Royale, I was excited to see what Zucker’s performance would be like. Would it match the vibe of his music? Would it be more energetic? I thought about all the possibilities as I waited for the show to start.

Of the two openers, Valley Boy performed first. Their music, like Jeremy Zucker’s, was a chill type of indie pop that made it easy for the crowd to just vibe before the show. Following the short break after Valley Boy’s set, another indie pop band named Babygirl played a set similar in length and vibe to Valley Boy’s. Once Babygirl left the stage, the crowd eagerly waited for Jeremy Zucker to begin his performance.

Opening with a cool visual of a shooting star across the Earth, Zucker began his set with “we’re fucked, it’s fine” off of his first album love is not dying. He followed it up with the energy-filled “therapist,” a new song from CRUSHER. This song made it clear that Zucker would be bringing a ton of energy to his entire performance. The vibes he created while performing plus the response of the crowd were bound to give everyone there a fun time.

Zucker later slowed it down with the soft “always, i’ll care,” and the crowd matched his chilled out energy. But soon after, they brought it back up with the popular “not ur friend.” This showed how Zucker’s music can change so drastically in energy levels. Despite the wide range of vibes from each song, they were all tremendous to hear live.

The visuals for each segment of the show were also incredible. Different animations, colors, and patterns painted the screens behind Zucker and his band. He also had stylized lyrics on the screen at some points throughout the set. One of the best visuals was for his song “i-70.” Depictions of nature flew by as if the audience was driving down an actual highway. Overall, the visuals for each song contributed a great deal to the immaculate vibe of the entire show.

In addition to great visuals, great energy, and a great set, Jeremy Zucker is an amazing performer. He is extremely talented, and it showed the entire time he was on stage. Zucker did a great job at both raising and lowering the energy levels of the room during specific songs; he also proved his musical talent by playing parts of some songs acoustically, even playing the track “scared” as a keyboard solo. Interestingly enough, his live vocals sounded better than his original recordings, making the performance that much more impressive.

Besides Zucker’s talent, his down to earth personality made the show feel personal and enjoyable. His small talks with the crowd felt intimate and tailored the crowd at the Boston show, rather than just being a general speech an artist gives at every show on their tour. Additionally, after every song he would say “thank you so much” to the crowd, demonstrating that he values his fans a lot and is grateful for them singing along to his music.

Everything about Jeremy Zucker’s show made it one of the best I’ve been to. The energy of the fans in the crowd was extremely fun to sing and dance with, and Zucker only made it even better with the energy he contributed himself. Between his set that featured many fan and personal favorites, the gorgeous visuals and lighting, and Zucker’s ability to make the show feel personal, I would think it’s safe to say that everyone at the show had an awesome time.