[ATTENDED: October 29, 2019] Jay Som
A few years ago, I listened to a podcast on All Songs Considered, in which they talked about Jay Som, Japanese Breakfast and Mitski as being similarly-minded songwriters.
I made a point to try to see all three of them and Jay Som was my third. I feel like her songs might be the most commercial-sounding (I mean, “Superbike” is awesome!) and yet she played in the smallest venue of the three. But the fans were really into the show!
Jay Som is the creation of Melina Duterte. She came out last after her band set up and checked out to make sure everything was cool. When she came out on stage there was much applause and she thanked us for coming to her show while Sum 41 was playing downstairs. he said that she and the band checked out a few songs before their set started. Actually their set was so short, they could have easily gone down afterward and heard more.
Up on stage with her were Oliver Pinnell on guitar, Zachary Elsasser on drums and Dylan Allard on bass and keys. There was also a fifth person on stage. A woman. And that’s all I really know about her. I’m sure she was introduced, but I never caught her name. And, because of the position of the keyboard rack, I literally never saw her face. She played keys and bass. When she stood in front of the keys, the upper keyboard blocked her face and when Dylan played keys, he totally blocked her. So, apologies, unknown band member.
Jay Som recently released the really good album Anak Ko. This tour was in support of the album and as such she played six of the nine songs on it [skipping “Devotion,” “Crown” and “Tenderness”].
Melina is pretty soft spoken. So she said hellos and then started playing “If You Want It,” the lead off track from the album. It’s got a cool guitar riff and great drums. I loved being so close to the stage (and that the sound wasn’t terrible being so close). 
She sang quietly although I may have been too close to hear her clearly. The vocals did seem to get a little louder as the show went on.
She didn’t play only new songs, though. The next song was from her 2016 album Turn Into. She played “Turn Into.” For this one, Dylan was playing guitar (so there were three guitars on stage!). He played the loud chords, while Melina played the minimal lead and rather complex chords.
“Baybee” comes from her previous album Everybody Works. Oliver Pinnell played the opening and Melina played the main chords. I appreciated that she let her band do some of the heavy lifting–that it wasn’t all on her.
Things never got crazy loud during the show, but they were even quieter for the delicate “Night Time Drive.”
The wildest part of the night came during “Anak Ko.” It starts very quietly with just oohs from drummer Zach and some really pretty slow guitar melodies. But mid way through the song it turned into a great wall of noise with all of the guitarists playing up their distortion. Just as I started recording, the noise faded and Melina started playing this fun little sampled part.
During “Peace Out” Oliver played a fascinating-looking tambourine and the unnamed woman played a nice loud guitar in the middle section.
Her song “Superbike” is one of my favorite songs of the year. The chord progression is great and immediately catchy and the vocal melody is outstanding. There’s a great part near the end where Oliver plays the strings in the headstock of his guitar for a very cool sound (sorry I missed it in the video). Melina also plays an excellent fuzzy guitar solo.
Things slowed down for the very chill “Get Well.” This features some really delicate leads from Oliver.
“Bus Song” was the first Jay Som song I’d heard and I really liked it. But somehow I had forgotten it was her song until she started playing it. I was really psyched.
People started joking that they loved the bus and we got a quick smile out of her. I love that everyone shouted “but I like the bus!” right on cue.
She asked us if we wanted one more song. It was hard to believe the set was almost over already. When someone said “two songs” she agreed and said she’d play two songs. Before the next song she played a briefly melody on the guitar–a few chords while waiting for someone to tune. Since I was literally right in front of her I asked her if that was the first song. She laughed and said, yes that was song 1.
Then she played “Pirouette,” the most rocking song of the night with some ripping guitars and loud drums. It comes from a 2018 single. The guitars were so loud for this, it was terrific.
Someone had been shouting for “I Think You’re Alright” for a few songs. I didn’t know it was a title and it almost sounded like an insult. I comment in the video about the things floating around her during this song. I still have no idea what it was but it added a nice dreamy quality to the song. This song quietly segued into “Lipstick Stains.”
For this set ending song, she sang quietly and played a very delicate guitar. The other band members all squatted down allowing all of the spotlight to be on Melina. On record the song is just under two minutes. I feel it may have been shorter here.
It was lovely ending to this sweet concert.
It was kind of a surprise that she played for just over an hour (if that).
Interestingly, right after our show (I think maybe a few hours after) she posted this to Instagram
Europe, I’m very sorry to say that I need to postpone my upcoming Anak Ko World Tour dates to March 2020. I need to take this time to get my mental health in order and appreciate the patience.
I have no idea if this indicates that she was less than perfect for our show. Having ever seen her before I have no idea. But I thought she was pretty magnificent and I hope the Europe tour goes well.
SETLIST
- If You Want It ∇
- Turn Into ⇔
- Baybee €
- Nighttime Drive ∇
- Anak Ko ∇
- Peace Out ∇
- Superbike ∇
- Get Well ∇
- The Bus Song €
- Pirouette [single]
- I Think You’re Alright [single]
- Lipstick Stains €
∇ Anak Ko (2019)
€ Everybody Works (2017)
⇔ Turn Into (2016)
I Just Read About That... 
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