Album release show that got the boiz in their feelings

Twin Shadow “Georgie” Album Release (Night 2)

Artist Website

Opener: Elk Darling

Venue: Barnsdall Art Gallery Theater – Apr. 04, 2025

Vibe Check: 🌈

Mic Check: 🍄

Enjoy the Silence

You show up to a show one day and realize that you’re not some young kid going to the show anymore. There’s no camping overnight, pushing to get to the railing, or cosplaying the performer. You’re in line at an art gallery on a Friday night wearing a reasonable coat, standing in line behind a couple wearing hiking boots and comfy socks.

Then immediately after you’re scanned in, you receive an unexpected surprise: FREE VINYL. “The night can’t get any better,” you wistfully sigh as you descend the staircase to the wine bar.

I’m a vertically challenged solo show adventurer; I naturally gravitated toward the front row. It was first-come first-served seating and folks were already saving spots with their haphazardly placed coats and newly acquired vinyl on the chairs. I took a seat in the second row already knowing I was going to have the poor luck of sitting behind a tall man.

As the 80s pop jams played their muzakical role and it was becoming more clear that the folks that were planning on coming had already arrived, I realized that the coveted front row was occupied only by 2 (also solo) showgoers; one of which was, in fact, very giant and blocking my view. I tapped the stranger on the shoulder to ask if I could sit next to them, winning me leg room and lively conversation!

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Opener Elk Darling, dressed in all red and pleather devil horns, ripped through their set including their shoegazey single “Think About It”. It was a short and fun set sprinkled with lore about the Cecil Hotel and a deprecating joke about remembering to tell the crowd that “this is our last song.”

After sharing my potentially problematic thoughts about mediocrity, the curtains rose to reveal two pedal steel guitarists and Twin Shadow, adorned in a Canadian tuxedo and brown boots, surrounded by candles and lava lamps.

The lights were kept low and what with my proximity to the stage, I was expecting awkward eye contact with the performers at any moment. I have mixed experience with seated theater shows. The crowd etiquette is unclear, reliant on performer instruction, and often a little stilted because of it. Even if the songs themselves compel you to dance or whoop, it feels like you’re at a golf tournament: completely silent and with a respectful clap only when the swing is completed.

Twin Shadow called us out for this.

My night was the second of two album release shows. Whereas he described night one as “silent as an AA meeting,” we were allegedly only incrementally better because we were at least as quiet as a “sex and lovers meeting.” There were several cues we missed to clap along with him to the beat, but we did eventually loosen up. More than a couple of times, I was really tempted to stand up and dance because I was so moved by the performance, but didn’t want to draw attention to myself. The folks behind me were clearly longtime fans and (lovingly) heckled him and sang along.

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I have a bad habit of buying show tickets after hearing one song on an album or not really having a “relationship” with an artist. For Georgie, I was simply moved by the album. One week I was including a song from the album on Now Playing, then the next I was sitting 6 feet away hearing him croon. Twin Shadow was accompanied by two extraordinary multi-instrumentalists, transforming his vocoded and quasi-80s electronic recordings into intimate quasi-country acoustic masterpieces. His raw vocals tapped me into his personal suffering and vulnerability.

On the other side of this suffering, though, is his clear love of performing and the energy crowds give back to him. More than once, I found myself lost in the moment with my eyes closed and could hear him smiling as he sang.

For his penultimate song, he asked the crowd for requests; of which he received many deep in his catalog he laughed about not remembering how to play. He eventually settled on an older song and chose to begin playing by himself only with his electric guitar. After about the end of the first chorus, he silently signals to his fellow performers to “come on in.” Without hesitation, they begin accompanying him with tragic whines on the steel guitar. As the song concludes and the OG fans audibly smile from having heard an older song, Twin Shadow shares that “those guys have never heard that song before,” to bring home the mastery required to improvise so well.

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One of my favorite moments of the evening was his cover of “Enjoy the Silence” by Depeche Mode. Already a dark song, they cranked it up to eleven by slowing the tempo and reaching for the deeper notes. We were invited to sing along and were accompanied by show openers Elk Darling on guitar and vocals. As if the show wasn’t already hyper intimate and moody, this sing along moment connected me more deeply with those around me as we sang:

All I ever wanted
All I ever needed
Is here in my arms
Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm

The show was closed out with “Hide It in Attraction” where his vocals were so clear, full, and raw that the man to my left audibly gasped and exhaled a “wow.”

Maybe the awkwardness of being seated was the plan all along — we gave him a standing ovation and cleared the room.

Ch-check One-Two

My favorite track from Georgie