REVIEW: Daniel Caesar and Faye Webster @ TD Garden 7/31

Photo Credit: Thane Fernandes

Review by James Klein

Friday night, fans packed TD Garden for a show featuring singer-songwriter superstars Daniel Caesar and Faye Webster. This was the most Gen-Z crowd I’ve ever seen at a concert. The unofficial uniform was flannels, oversized jeans, loafers and wired earbuds. Nearly every phone seemed to be scrolling through TikTok or Snapchat.

This demographic made perfect sense for the show; Caesar and Webster have both gained enormous followings on TikTok. For Caesar, songs like “Best Part,” “Get You” and “Japanese Denim” exploded on the platform, helping him accumulate billions of streams. Webster has also become a TikTok favorite, with songs including “Kingston,” “I Know You” and “Right Side of My Neck” earning hundreds of millions of streams. Their online popularity has translated into sold-out arenas across the country. Live, however, both artists proved there was far more to them than viral success. 

The lights came up on a smoky TD Garden stage as Webster walked out with her band and opened with “But Not Kiss,” followed by “Thinking About You” and “Wanna Quit All the Time,” three highlights off her 2024 album “Underdressed at the Symphony.” The stage glowed in the album cover’s signature royal blue. Her band moved effortlessly between folk, indie rock and jazz. 

Webster welcomed the crowd, her speaking voice as soft and airy as her singing. The band played “Lego Ring,” featuring impressively tight tempo changes and ending on a drum solo leading into “Jonny.” Webster took to the keyboard and was joined by a sultry, resonant saxophone. The crowd sang along until it led into “Jonny (Reprise),” where Webster delivered a high-pitched monologue addressed to Jonny that drew some laughs from the audience.

The band played through “Right Side Of My Neck,” “In A Good Way,” and an autotuned “Feeling Good Today,” after which she introduced the band, including the “birthday boy” Charles Garner on drums. The highlight of her set came with the closing song, “Kingston.” As soon as it started, the crowd erupted into “The day that I met you, I started dreaming.” While waving phone lights, the audience joined her in singing “He said, ‘baby,’ that’s what he called me, ‘I love you.’” Her understated stage presence made the audience’s enthusiastic singing even more striking. Afterward, Webster gave the crowd a few endearing waves before leaving the stage.

Caesar’s set started with a video onscreen, thanking the audience for coming. The fog-filled stage glowed with heavenly light through windowpanes as “Rain Down” played and Caesar walked on with crutches (he broke his ankle in early July but has continued touring). He sat and played the tambourine as a gospel choir appeared on stage left, draped in red robes. The choir danced and pointed toward heaven as they layered vocals over the song. This set the tone for the rest of the show before Caesar even began singing. The choir sang “Here I am, here I am,” accompanied by a church organ as Caesar got up on his crutches and started singing “Call On Me” in an airy but impactful falsetto. 

Caesar made his way to his guitar on crutches for a performance of “Have A Baby With Me,” which was just as moving. The choir rejoined him on a “Let your blessings rain down on me” chant while an impressive light display beamed from the rafters. On “Who Knows,” Caesar continued on guitar, this time joined by the entire crowd singing. The song developed into a climactic rock section before Caesar hopped over to put his guitar away. 

An onstage cameraman carrying a large rig spent most of the set capturing close-ups for the video screen, constantly moving while Caesar remained largely confined to one spot. While the screens moved through stunning close-ups, at times it felt overdone and distracting.

Caesar sat for a performance of “CYANIDE,” joined by some beautiful piano and the gospel choir’s “oohs.” He then transitioned into “Always,” another emotional highlight of the show. In a nod to Boston, the screen played a montage of clips from the movie “Good Will Hunting.” On-screen visuals complemented the set throughout, from footage of a child dancing during “Loose” to volcanic eruptions during “Please Do Not Lean.”

Next came a church organ-backed cover of “Many Rivers To Cross” by Jimmy Cliff, a natural fit for his warm, expressive voice. After the cover, Caesar took to the scooter for his hit “Japanese Denim.” Caesar circled the stage before settling on the front platform, occasionally holding the microphone out for the audience to sing along. Sitting back down, Caesar played the guitar for another hit, “Best Part,” allowing the crowd to sing the opening verse and taking it from there. 

Caesar unleashed one of his night’s most forceful vocal performances during the unreleased “It Should Be You,” pleading “I only want you” into the microphone. Another powerful highlight was “Sins Of The Father.” Heavenly light once again flooded the stage as Caesar sang of faith and generational trauma. He closed out the set with “Moon,” where the band showed off some rock-style drumming and electric guitar riffs.

Daniel Caesar and Faye Webster proved that their appeal extends far beyond the algorithms that introduced many fans to their music. Despite his limited mobility, Caesar delivered a spiritually and emotionally stirring performance that never felt restricted by his injury.