Hey Violet Takes Over New York: What It’s Like At Their Concert
When getting to Bowery Ballroom around 6:50 PM there was already a line going around the corner from the venue. The event itself was designated 16+, and you could see the variety in the ages of fans. After being let it in around 7:15 pm we all made our way to the stage, where little did we know we had another 45-minute way inside before the opening act performed. Sage Charmaine (@sagecharmaine) performed songs off of her latest EP Don’t Leave Me. Some songs of hers that stood out the most for me were “Happy Birthday (feat. Rocky),” “Don’t Bother Me (feat. Lil’ Aaron),” and the titular song, “Don’t Leave Me (feat. Rocky).” Her set lasted around 45 minutes, leaving fans with a 15-minute wait until Hey Violet.
As 9 PM hit and Hey Violet made their way to stage you could hear the roar of the crowd fill the entire venue. The band opened with songs from their 2017 album, From the Outside. The ambiance was just incredible. You could hear the fans singing perfectly in sync with the band. The first song that stood out was a single they released earlier this year, April 2019, called “Better By Myself,” it is a very synth-pop/alternative song that makes you reclaim independence.
Hey Violet performing at Bowery Ballroom in New York City.
The second song that stood out was a song from their album From the Outside called “O.D.D.” The song’s overall message is to embrace your uniqueness even when people are beating you down for it. With powerful lyrics like “Looking back, it's crazy. I almost turned into the person people told me I should be,” the song makes you realize there is no better you than you. A third song that stood out to me was their 2016 hit “Guys My Age.” The song comes from the point of view of a woman saying that guys her age are immature and not what she’s looking for, so she looks for it in older men. While the message of the song may not please everyone, it essentially thanks an ex-boyfriend for making her realize she wants more from a relationship. A fourth song that stood out to me was “Close My Eyes,” their latest single. The song is a message to an ex saying how much they miss them, but all they have now are the memories. With lyrics like “I close my eyes and I make believe, You're the one that's holding me,” you can hear that she misses him, which is something a lot of people can relate to.
A final song that stood out was the closing song, “Break My Heart,” which is also from their 2017 album From the Outside. The song itself is someone begging their significant other to break their heart because they want to live and learn through the pain. The band has said that the song is about getting to a point where you’ve experienced the goodness of a relationship and now you want to experience the other side of it. You essentially want to feel that yearning for them to then come out into the light.
Overall, the entire night was incredible. The opening act was a true surprise and was better than expected. Definitely made themselves a new fan out of me. Hey Violet truly did not disappoint. The energy they gave off to the crowd and the energy the crowd gave to them was truly magical. With the loss of their fourth member in April of this year, I had some reservations about how the show was going to go. They truly made it feel like nothing changed and gave an incredible performance. With new music to still release, Hey Violet is definitely a rising star and deserves all the recognition they get and more!
Website: https://www.heyviolet.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyviolet/
Words & Photos Taken by Daphne Rivera, Contributing Editor, PhotoBook Magazine.
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