All photos by Ross Bernhardt
The TechCrunch Disrupt 2017 festival descended upon New York City with a bevy of speakers, events and a hackathon for three days that put a spotlight on startups and disruptive technologies. To put a bow on things, Jidenna and Local Natives put on a closing concert at Webster Hall for attendees.
Local Natives kicked things off for a crowd that was very small for them. This is a group that sold out two night at Terminal 5 last November, so seeing them perform in a space that was holding maybe 400 people at its fullest felt like a real treat. I understand why the crowd was as small as it was. The festival had just wrapped up, people might have had travel plans, people might not have known who either group was (after talking with some people in the crowd, many had never heard of Local Natives). That didn’t matter, since the band played like the place was fully booked. The short set included old favorites “Wide Eyes,” “Airplanes” and “Who Knows, Who Cares” as well as new favorites like “Past Lives, “Coins” and “Dark Days.”
The harmonies between lead singers Taylor Rice and Kelcey Ayer were gorgeous as usual. It always amazes me the heights that Ayer can reach in his range song after song. The most fun surprise was getting to hear guitarist Ryan Hahn duet with Ayer on “Dark Days.” Hahn always provides excellent backing vocals, but hearing his voice out front was lovely. More Ryan Hahn on the next album, please.
A great testament to this band is that it can win over fans that have never heard of them. Members of the audience approached me afterwards (since I was visibly enjoying the set, more than most of the folks around me) and admitted they had no idea who the band was. But by the end of the set, they were really into it. It’s hard not to be with tunes as good as theirs, and when you see them play it live and fill their songs with such life, you can’t help but nod your head and dance along.
As good as Local Natives were for their set, there absolutely was a reason why Jidenna headlined the show. Having never seen him live, I didn’t have any set level of expectations. But the man can perform. He performed so hard that he tore a hole in his finely-tailored suit by the second song. #RIPsuit. Jidenna is an absolute showman and really knows how to get a crowd going. From the second he burst onto the stage, everyone was on board.
Throughout his set, he danced, sang, smiled, and bounced all over the stage. When he reached back and really started to spit, his flow reminded me a little bit of Common in style and cadence. With a shorter set, Jidenna played the bigger songs like “Hail To The Chief,” “Bambi” and of course “Classic Man.” During the interlude near the end, he promptly made sure to make his suit as fine as possible with some primping timed perfectly with the music. It was fantastic.
In total, Jidenna played seven songs, but it almost felt like a longer set thanks to his interplay with the crowd. He told a story about his father, a fellow groundbreaker to inspire this room filled with people looking to make a difference in the startup world. All in all, a fitting end to the fest indeed.
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