By Kate Harder
On October 3rd, Bleachers came to Portland and played at the Roseland Theater, and let me tell you, they put on quite a show. I may be biased because Jack Antonoff, the lead singer and songwriter of Bleachers, is probably my favorite person on Earth. I have complete confidence, however, that everyone at the show had an incredible time.
They started out with a bang doing the album intro. The show was pretty high energy, until they did an impromptu tribute to Tom Petty with a nice and slow version of “American Girl.” Later on, they played their song “Like a River Runs.” Jack played this after addressing the Las Vegas tragedy. It was their first show after the shooting took place and the song seemed to be a tribute to the victims and represented the power of music, loving one another, and carrying on legacies. Jack once said that Bleachers, “hides behind all the tears with a big rock show” and that they like to “trick people into getting really sweaty, then going home and having, like, weepy moments.” There was not a dry eye in the place at certain points throughout the show.
Overall, this was one of the best shows I’ve ever experienced. If you didn’t get the chance to go, I strongly urge you to keep an eye out for Bleachers in the future.
Peace!