[ATTENDED: June 2, 2022] Sub Urban
I
love Aurora. She puts on a great show and is just chock full of positive energy. We saw her two years ago and I was excited to see her again.
I had no idea who Sub Urban was, but I enjoyed the name (it’s kinda clever and he’s from Ridgewood, NJ, right near where I grew up and also where the band Real Estate is from!). Turns out that Sub Urban actually had a viral hit called “Cradles.”
In fact, before the show started when I was waiting for my daughter to come out of the bathroom I saw a little girl with her dad and I said something about how great Aurora was and the girl reply “I’m not here for her, I’m here for Sub Urban.” Huh.
He also had a new single called “UH-OH” which featured New Zealand Singer Benee (who sounds so much like Billie Eilish it’s insane). And, indeed, Aurora guests on one of his songs as well (“Paramour” which he did not play).
Okay, in reading another review I have learned that Sub Urban was releasing his album HIVE that night and the show was sol out, apparently in part because of him. The reviewer at mylifeinsound says “The anticipation among both the artist and the crowd for the new album was palpable as Sub Urban performed a mix of familiar tunes and songs yet to be released from HIVE.” How about that.
Speaking of Billie Eilish, she really created an entire genre of creepy catchy music. And while I won’t say she’s the reason other artists make the kind of music they do, her enormous success has to be part of the reason so many other artists are so popular. Enter Sub Urban. He does a wonderful mix of creepy and catchy. He has a cool whisper/sing style of vocalizing with lots of na na na teasing/singing in the bridges.
In the live setting he had a drummer and a guy on acoustic/electric guitar and bass to make the set feel like a good live show and not just a guy singing to a backing track.
He came out (on a really hot night) in a big baggy coat) and sang some new songs. His stage manner was fun and glitchy which I found charming. The baggy coat quickly came off to reveal a skinny guy in a sleeveless shirt with his mop of curly hair on top (a pretty adorable picture frankly).
He has a fun robotic, way of dancing that works perfectly with the mechanical sounds of his music. “Cradles” has a recurring motif of a slow music box in the melody and he jerked his body around appropriately. He really had a stage presence. I’m curious now if he’ll become a bigger sensation next year and I’ll be able to say I saw him open up for Aurora.
- VIRGIL’S MANIA ‰
- BANDIT ‰
- UH OH! ‰
- Freak §
- RABBIT HOLE ‰
- CANDYMAN ‰
- WHITEWALL ‰
- HEDON ‰
- INFERNO ‰
- Cradles ¶
‰ HIVE (2022)
§ Thrill Seeker EP (2020)
¶ Cradles single (2019)
Leave a Reply