Keshi sells out Radio City Music Hall… Twice.
Written by Shauna Hilferty
March 15th, 2023
New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
Keshi embarks on his second tour promoting his debut album Gabriel, supported by James Ivy and Weston Estate.
The Music Enthusiast Blog were invited to night one! Here is how it went:
There was an innate casualness five-piece indie-rock band Weston Estate had as they strolled and skipped onto one of New York’s most iconic stages. Five microphones lined the front of the stage, with a drumset nestled not far behind. The lights were low but the energy was high and the performance was exactly what the crowd needed to kick off the night.
Weston Estate eased the crowd into their set, playing a handful of tracks from their 2022 EP, Maggie Valley. Their harmonies were clear and crisp and the buildup to each chorus was accentuated with laughter in and out between each verse transition. During “Drown,” Marco asked the crowd to get on their feet and “dance with us,” as he motioned toward his friends onstage. It was during “Daisies” that everyone in the audience pulled out their flashlights to light up the entire hall. One of their most popular songs on Spotify, “So Good” came second to last in the set. With its inevitably catchy rhythm, the audience found it hard not to groove along.
Much of what made Weston Estate charming to watch onstage was their gratefulness to be performing and to be connected to the crowd. Not a song went by that Tammy or Manas didn’t thank the audience for being there. And what was playing to a sold-out crowd at Radio City Music Hall, turned into watching the five best friends next door rehearse in their dad’s garage.
Not even a year following his debut, GABRIEL, singer, songwriter, and producer Keshi took to the stage to perform a whopping twenty-two song setlist, featuring favorites from the album above, some early EP classics, and even an unreleased track.
Adorned in leather pants, a mesh top, and a jacket that looked like it cost triple my rent, Keshi began with “GET IT,” fittingly the first song of the set and the first on his album. The energy was electric. Die-hard fans screamed every word back, knew every beat and bass drop, and their enthusiasm even carried to those newcomers and plus-ones. Keshi gave a shout-out early on to his producer Eli, encouraging the five-thousand audience members to chant for him too.
“This song is about sex,” Keshi confessed about his next song “Touch.” “It’s about getting drunk, lines getting blurry.” Touch switched the set’s gears. The crowd sang and swayed along, raising their glasses and hands toward the stage. Right after, and very aptly named was “Drunk” as Keshi downed a second glass of whiskey in his right hand, holding the neck of his acoustic in the other.
Keshi shared a story about his 2019 EP skeletons. A soft blend of lo-fi and R&B, the EP was one of his first larger projects. He explained, “I got a call from my parents, from my mom and my brother and I hadn’t checked in on them in a little bit. My EP skeletons was going to release that week. They didn’t want to bug me, they said they didn’t want to bug me. My dad got admitted to the hospital for the first time in my life.”
“I just want this to be a reminder if you guys have people that you love, I want you guys to tell them that you fucking love them, please. There’s not enough times to tell them that you love them.”
The set picked up after “skeletons,” featuring sick drum solos and fills from Marlon B. Lewis, Vin Landolfi shredding it on the guitar and Nate Villegas ripping it on the keys – Keshi’s incomparable band. To easily replicate and even accentuate studio versions in a live setting is incredibly difficult. However, Keshi’s band did so beautifully. Accurately capturing the sometimes melancholic and most times melodic, effortlessly cool feel of the original recordings, audience members felt like the show was just for them. And it was.
Keshi’s live performance trajectory over the past few years is insane, going from Webster Hall to Radio City in less than a year is unmatched. Yet somehow, Keshi was able to make Radio City Music Hall feel like one of his more intimate shows. For lovers of his earlier projects to newbie Keshi listeners, this year’s tour has a little bit of everything. Regardless of the number of fans he performs to, it is clear Keshi is thankful for every single one.
“Because of you guys, it could only be done. You guys have changed my life.”