Get Outside. Summer is Here.
I couldn’t even imagine staying up to watch SNL live. I’m not sure what would be worse: staying up past 1 or sitting through all of the commercials between skits. Unc is washed.
SNL is best the next day when you can fly through the commercials, and sometimes even the musical acts. Usually within 30 seconds of a performance my wife and I know whether we can skip the first song to get right to Weekend Update.
I don’t know why SNL musical performances are generally underwhelming. The quality at 30 Rock isn’t on the same echelon as other popular stages, like Tiny Desk, KEXP, or Like a Version. I don’t know if it’s actually performing live, playing at midnight, or the stage setup, but you never know what you’re going to get from a musical guest.
Despite me being a cranky old man, here are a few favorites from this past season.
Sabrina Carpenter
It’s awesome to see what mega pop stars can do with their performances when they have seemingly endless resources. It’s like touring a palace. You’re like, “Shit, I don’t know if I want to live here, but this is an awesome place to visit.” My first exposure to Carpenter’s performance game came when she turned her Grammys debut into what felt like a Broadway production. She uses the set as part of her narrative without letting it compromise her vocals.
Olivia Dean
Olivia is just enjoying the hell out of her meteoric rise, and you can tell she’s still not sick of the hit song that helped propel her to stadium status. Speaking of: Anyone have extra tickets to the show at the TD Garden in Boston this summer?
Sombr
This was one of the instances where I quickly went from “who the fuck is this kid?” to “I fucking love this kid.” Sombr brought unfiltered energy with the wobbly microphone stand that matches his lanky movements and had me googling to make sure he wasn’t Finn Wolfhard OR the nepo baby from Anora.
Starting 5: Arsenal Edition
International soccer clubs are one of the few institutions that can truly bridge global communities. The disappointment of a kit reveal or the hatred for Michael Oliver has no borders. Whether you’re on the streets of Highbury, Nairobi, or Gramercy Park, the distance from North London is irrelevant because you can feel a cannon etched on your chest. You schedule your life around 7:30 am weekend games and 3 pm weekday kickoffs. You hum team chants to your newborn in the hopes one of you will find peace. You shed tears as you text the friends and family who have chosen this god forsaken journey with you because for this first time in 22 years you have won the fucking league.
“North London forever, whatever the weather, these streets are home”
Album of the Month: The Great Divide: The Last of the Bugs by Noah Kahan
The scale of commercial promotion for Noah Kahan’s second album was about as big as it can get. The music video for “The Great Divide” was exclusively featured during a Super Bowl ad and a Netflix documentary released last month focused on Noah Kahan’s rise, the weight of creating a second album, and what keeps him stable through it all. That’s a lot of hype for a folk singer from Vermont who sings about depression. And yet, Kahan was able to meet the hype.
Noah Kahan’s superpower lies within his songwriting. Musically, he leans on typical holler-stomp, simple acoustic, sprinkle-in-a-fiddle folk, but it’s in the realism, honesty, and visceral-nature of his lyrics that attracts people to his music like a bug to a campfire flame. I’d make the argument that he is one of the best contemporary, mainstream songwriters.
He’s not only adored by the masses, as is evident by his 35 million monthly Spotify listeners and sold out shows at places like Fenway and Wrigley, but he’s also respected by his peers, with an all-star line up showing up on the re-release of Stick Season, including Post Malone, Hozier, Kacey Musgraves, Sam Fender, and Brandi Carlile. Through it all, Kahan remains humble and humorous, moving back to his hometown, shotgunning beers with his brother, cracking jokes at his own expense, and using his platform to try and give all Vermont residents access to mental health resources.
The Encore: The Albumist’s Summer Time
Music is as integral to summer as the company we share it with and the sunshine that warms our skin. This is hanging at the beach until the cooler is empty, long car rides for the weekend warriors squeezing every bit of juice out of the season, and the golden hours that bridge the day’s adventures to the evening’s shenanigans. It’s a little bit of dancing, vibing, and honky tonking. Is that a word? Who cares? Get outside. Summer is here.
Peace, love, and positivity.