Japanese Breakfast, Fillmore Silver Spring, July 21, 2021
I saw Japanese Breakfast last night at the Fillmore in Silver Spring, just outside of DC. This was my second inside show since getting vaccinated (I still wear a mask because the Delta variant is scary and people are gross) and it was, something to my surprise, a massive crowd and huge pop show.
The mask-wearing ratio was modestly better than DC9 a few nights before; maybe 5-7%, but it was a huge crowd: sold out, in a venue that reportedly holds up to 2000 guests. So, still a veritable germ factory.
I have respected Japanese Breakfast’s music — and Michelle Zauner’s writing — for a while, but didn’t follow them closely. The newer album
Jubilee, however, is full of bangers (that’s what the kids call them, right?). Like, I’m from the indie/alternative music world but the new Jbrekkie music somehow melds her background in shoegazy and introspective bedroom pop with an aesthetic out of 80s MOR (check the gated percussion straight out of a Phil Collins album) and shout-along arena anthems, like “Everybody Wants to Love You.” There was also a strong Miami Vice-era color palette in the stage lighting. But in terms of 80s trends I would like to go away, Jbrekkie had a saxophonist on tour, I kept expecting a Glenn Frey moment to emerge — "You Belong to the City," or something.
In any case “Be Sweet” is so ebullient that it could be a Carly Rae Jepsen song and the X-Files tribute video is wild (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZfcZEIo6Bw)
Incidentally Michelle Zauner said that not only was this the very first show of Japanese Breakfast post-vaccine, it was the single biggest show she had ever played. That surprised me. This music is meant for basketball stadiums...
Mannequin Pussy, whose lead singer co-stars in the aforementioned X-Files tribute video, opened the set. They have a long history together with Zauner, but I did not much care for Mannequin Pussy's music. It was heavily 80s hardcore-influenced at times, shout-along pop-punk at other times. Short, fast, extraordinarily angry and loud songs. Singer and guitarist Marisa Dabice raged against white supremacy, twerked energetically to power-metal chords, and exhorted the crowd to scream out loud in unison, since concerts are "the only socially acceptable place" for that behavior. Bassist Colins “Bear” Regisford sang one hardcore anthem against the police.
