REVIEW: Kevin Atwater @ The Sinclair 9/23
Photo Credit: Jackie Fortis
Review by Gabriella Knapp
Humorous is not the way I thought I would describe the same man who wrote “You ever see me as the one you’d want around for the rest?/Was I just a face to flush until it’s absent of red?/You made me come and made me leave and made me come again/I know that I should hate you,” but that’s how I would describe Kevin Atwater. His Boston show on Wednesday, Sept. 23, was an intimate experience full of, as expected, heartbreaking lyrics. Unexpectedly, however, his witty crowd work defined the show.
The evening began with Jessie Mazin, whose incredible voice and melancholic melodies immediately set the mood for the night. Her set was soft and beautiful, but Mazin brought playfulness and wonder to it as well. Mazin’s highlight was her rendition of “Part of Your World” from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid.” She later performed her song “Love, Make Me a Believer.” The song had been released earlier that day and was met with a warm audience response.
When Atwater took the stage, he began with a song off his newest album “Blush Red.” The stage was awash in low red lighting, creating an ambiance that was simultaneously intimate and charged. It seemed tailor-made for the album, a concept record centered around a story of lust and love that unfolds over the course of one night. His storytelling was not only present in the lyrics, but also in his movements and expressions. Atwater brought the concept to life onstage.
He then moved into two songs off his earlier album “Achilles.” He performed “lonely gift,” a song about letting a person hurt you because they themselves are hurting, according to Atwater, and “the cage,” about an illicit relationship between a younger version of himself and an older man. Both are absolutely heartbreaking songs with vivid imagery.
Just as quickly as Atwater emotionally devastates his audience, he breaks the tension with a quick joke. Before he played his third song off “Achilles,” Atwater joked with the audience about his tendency not to write bridges. Atwater’s humor continued throughout the set. He joked with the balcony about a screech the AC was making, and even encouraged the audience to cheer as he drank water so they wouldn’t hear him swallow. He kept asking if we were really in Boston, or if the Sinclair was in Cambridge. These moments were so personable; the pure heartbreak that followed them became even more hard-hitting.
Throughout the night, Atwater was accompanied by guitarist Jessie Houle and drummer Hunter Lewis. The three of them brought life into the stories told onstage. The instrumental energy really picked up during “God in my Head,” which Atwater says is his favorite off the album. The audience response seemed to agree.
The crowd held their own against Atwater’s onstage charisma. He received not one, not two, but three pins from the audience. Two were of him and fellow songwriter Jake Minch, and one simply said “Twink,” which he chose to pin on his shirt. The best recurring bit of the night was before he began to play. Atwater would introduce the next song by saying, “I’m gonna play a song, but imagine I didn’t.”
Later, Atwater brought Mazin back out to cover “Anything” by Adrianne Lenker, much to the emotional rapture — perhaps dismay? — of the audience. He showed off his guitar-picking virtuosity during this song, highlighting where he gets his inspiration for his affinity for rhythmic precision in his own music. To top it all off, he brought out his clarinet for his song “til august.”
When Atwater left the stage before his encore, he joked with the audience, who were also in on the joke that he would, of course, come back out. When he came back onstage, Atwater returned to a crowd response akin to that of a glam rockstar, even signing one fan’s forehead.
Atwater delivered a stunning performance at The Sinclair, masterfully navigating the emotional places his music will take you: heartbreak followed by laughter, and quiet into noise. “Blush Red” tells the story of one night, and Atwater succeeded in bringing that to life — not only through the music, but by making the audience feel part of the story too.