09/28 @ Bearsville Theatre, Woodstock

“The room was warm, but the energy in the room was warmer, even as people’s foreheads glistened with sweat against the cool hues of the stage lights.”

Fall vibes were in full bloom at Bearsville Theater, the perfect rustic oasis to sport the season so well. Despite the cool evening temperatures of the last Sunday of September that had attendees rolling up in their best autumn ‘fits, the night would quickly become sweaty.

Bedroom pop musician Hannah Jadagu warmed up the crowd with her cozy energy. She offered the perfect sound as she served as the show’s only opener. We’ve all been to the occasional show where you actually give yourself enough time to get there early and catch the opener, but the vibe just isn’t it...this was not the case with Jadagu.

She came out beaming but also cool, calm and collected as she faced the already-filling-up theater. Joined by only two other musicians on stage, their powerful sound came as a welcomed shock to myself, and seemingly the rest of the room. Concert-goers got loose early in Jadagu’s set, as she blessed our ears with fun indie pop tunes, sprinkled with layers of lo-fi.

A backing track only added to Jadagu and her bandmembers’ sound, and not in a cop-out kind of way. The string instruments, piano riffs and additional backup vocals served as a bolstering of the talent already very evident of the Texas-native.

Her crowd control, and encouragement for the audience to sing-along captured everyone’s attention in the room, making the set feel like a chill hangout. She also really demonstrated that she was one of us by making sure to mention that she was a big fan of The Japanese House herself. At one point, when she brought it up again, she said something along the lines of “No, guys, I’m a REALLY big fan of The Japanese House.”

Some of the songs began to incorporate a shoegazey ring to them, to which I found myself subtly swaying back and forth, glancing up at the high beams of the theater, before my eyes naturally were directed to the disco ball in the center. The centerpiece spun slowly overhead, glistening as soft shades of purple lights reflected off its mosaic mirrored fragments.

As I was lifted into a dreamy state amongst the bedroom pop that poured from the stage, I seemingly lost track of time, and suddenly Jadagu was introducing her final song.

The crowd was buzzing in between sets, anxiously awaiting The Japanese House as more people packed into the venue like sardines.

Amber Bain, who is The Japanese House, gracefully took the stage, followed by four supporting musicians. They got things started with ease, as the room boiled over with energy and excitement. The group had a humbleness to them, even as they each contributed to the rich, complex sounds that each of The Japanese House’s songs encapsulate. Their laid back energy set the vibe, which could be attributed, in part, to the European in them.

The room was warm, but the energy in the room was warmer, even as people’s foreheads glistened with sweat against the cool hues of the stage lights. The sweat just kept coming as fans jumped around to the indie tunes. The Japanese House fed off the response in the venue, and you could tell how appreciative Bain and her counterparts were to be taking the stage, unable to hide their smiles as the crowd danced about. The English musician also shared that this was their first headline show in quite awhile. But I think most would agree with me that there was no presence of rust in their well-oiled machine.

A machine is just what they were, and not in a rageful, metal type of way, but rather one that had its distinct parts that made up the whole. The emotion radiated off of each performer. There were even times when the three members that were holding down the front portion of the stage all closed their eyes to feel the music at the same point in some of the songs. Bain joked about the crowd liking being sad because they were at a Japanese House show. At least they know their audience. In fact, they really knew their audience at Bearsville Theater that Sunday night, with Bain noting that she sensed that the gays were in the house tonight.

Bain relished in the togetherness of the LGBTQIA+ community present in the building and opened up about the experiences behind the mostly sad, but also occasionally happy songs in their discography. Bain shared words on her struggle to understand her identity and queerness growing up, told through the song “Boyhood.” But on the other side of that, she beamed as she explained the meaning behind “:)”, which is like a love letter to lesbian love and having a good feeling before going to meet someone new on a date. It’s even cuter and sweeter to think about knowing that Bain recently got married.

The moods layered within each song are complex, even if the lyrics are relatively straightforward at times. This harkens back to the well-oiled machine I mentioned – the different components that make them whole, the keyboardist who sported techno, synthy sounds, but also busted out the saxophone on numerous occasions, the drummer who kept the whimsy pace, the bassist and guitarist who kept the storyline moving and of course Bain, whose unique voice sounded exactly like it does through my headphones or blasting in my car.

Bain was also set on hearing us sing along with her, taking out her ear piece several times, along with turning the microphone out to the audience. While our harmonizing wasn’t nearly as good as the five of them, Bain still found herself tickled by our passion, cheersing her Miller Lite can to us at one point.

It was during The Japanese House’s encore that my favorite moment of the night took place. Though, I should add, a close second was the fact that Bain announced they would be right back before exiting the stage, ditching the classic fake out of ‘Will we return to the stage? Or will we not? We’re just going to leave you in a cringy suspense until you find out.’ Once they returned, as they promised, Bain said that while they were backstage they talked about how good at singing along we were. So, she kicked off the highest stakes singalong of the night, involving the song “Boyhood,” which they would do an acoustic version of. Bain said drummer Myles was the boss of that song, and she would seek his approval to keep playing it, so long as we were singing along to his satisfaction. As the crowd sang along to Bain’s strumming, she kept looking back at Myles, who slyly nodded in approval, which only made us sing louder. The whole occurrence had Bain giggling along with us every time Myles gave the go ahead. Bain even said she thinks we broke the record for the bit.

As the night began to come to a close, Bain thanked the audience of Bearsville Theater for being one of her favorite shows they’ve played, adding that we made her day, week and year. Something tells me that there were a slew diehard Japanese House fans that left Woodstock that night with a similar feeling.