Bleachers: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Sept. 12, 2017 | Jacob Ganz -- Two songs into his Tiny Desk concert, Jack Antonoff revealed a bit of stagecraft behind his performances with Bleachers.

"My manager says, 'When you play for 1,000 people, don't talk to one person. It's only cool for them,'" Antonoff said. It was offered as an apology — he had just finished aiming a monologue about the link between dancing and crying at a single NPR staffer in the audience — but it was also a perfect encapsulation of the connection Antonoff's songs create. Bleachers makes truly conversational pop, songs that sound expansive but retain a sense of intimacy, even when aimed at the masses.

At the Tiny Desk, Antonoff, along with pianist Mikey Hart and multi-instrumentalist Evan Smith, pared away much of the pomp that can turn Antonoff's layered studio productions into neon-lit melodramas rollercoastering toward catharsis. On three songs from this year's album Gone Now impeccably re-arranged for a smaller space, it was impossible to miss the cracked longing at the heart of Antonoff's work.

"If you ever see Bleachers live, it's two drum sets and it's big and it's kinda like this big statement that I could hide behind the tears with this big rock show. But the songs are written like this," Antonoff said before launching into a version of the '80s-drenched single "Don't Take The Money" that was all feathery keyboards and spoken word verses — plus a brief quote from Queen's 1984 hit "Radio Ga Ga. "

Not that he could resist a well-placed gimmick. "Don't Take The Money" was the only song of the day to include drum sounds, which came from a cassette tape in a boom box over which a microphone had been draped. He started the song by hitting play on the cassette, but it took three tries to nail the ending in time with Hart. For this group, seeing the flaws is part of the charm.

Set List

"Everybody Lost Somebody"
"Don't Take the Money"
"Foreign Girls"

MUSICIANS

Jack Antonoff (vocals, keys); Evan Smith (vocals, keys, sax); Mikey Hart (vocals, piano)

CREDITS

Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Noelle Smith; Audio Engineers: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Noelle Smith, Colin Marshall, Tsering Bista; Production Assistant: Jenna Li; Photo: Claire Harbage/NPR.

[heeeeyamy]

0:06 everybody lost somebody
5:06 don't take the money
11:27 foreign girls

[therecordfable]

Holy sheet, that Sax player. Most satisfactory.

[sewhite]

seen them in concert more than any other artist. i think a part of you changes when you hear them live. if you ever get the chance, please do. jack (lead singer) really tries to keep their concert tickets affordable so that everyone can experience what they create and give to their fans. something cathartic and euphoric. everyone from dads to couples to little kids have tears in their eyes listening to them. thank you for everything bleachers

[hunter-zqhz]

You can definitely hear his sound in both lorde and Taylor. He is such a musical genius

[jakescheirer]

A nervous sincerity does not easily equate to a man supposedly as famous as this. And yet here he is, giving hope to all us other musicians who feel the introvertedness.

[eleanorscott]

Ive listened to Everybody Lost Somebody, but this version man...it hits harder. Feels like slam poetry or something, you can hear the honesty in the words

[cheesecakelasagna]

Probably the best version of Everybody Lost Somebody.

[sewhite]

nothing hits you in the heart quite like the sax in everybody lost somebody

[Belty]

I have no idea why people don't like this... Went straight onto my favourites

[sendtome]

when he just switches to radio gaga by queen in the middle of dont take the god tier. absolute legend.

[kimberlykuehl]

The falsetto / saxophone duet is magic in “Everybody Lost Somebody”.

[WinkyDink]

Jack Antonoff is one of the best humans ever.

[michaelfaith]

I think this, if nothing else, makes a case for a Bleachers "Unplugged" album. It's so powerful.

[lillytiska]

I love the stripped down versions of all of the songs he does on here. There is a certain rawness about it and you can hear more emotion

[lukeburns]

first time I heard "Everybody Lost Somebody, I thought the lyrics were "Everybody Loved Somebody". The realization of my mistake made the song a whole lot more heart aching.

[sarahx]

This is refreshing to see since like jack said, their shows are so high energy and just screaming the words and not acknowledging that the songs are sad as fuck and they were written as sad ballads but during the show we can refute that and just yell and have a good time and dance together

[RyanGlaspell]

There's something about the spirit of these songs that keep me coming back to this. It's not that the vocals or music is so impressive, but I can't stay away. Simple melody & earnest lyrics get me every time.

[christyscoffeebean]

i love how his voice perfectly blends into the sax so that you cant tell if its his voice or the saxophone. REMARKABle

[breweaver]

You can totally hear in Don't Take the Money where The Louvre from Melodrama gets its influence

[michaelfaith]

Never heard Bleachers before, but this was wonderful. Love being exposed to new music. That opening song was so powerful. Thank you!