Editor’s Note: This article is a review and includes subjective thoughts, opinions and critiques.
The Daily’s article on sombr’s San Francisco show last year advised readers to “take risks despite judgment,” which is exactly what I did when I bought my tickets just 2 hours before his San Jose show.
I was joined by some friends (Leo Sajkov, Patrick Walsh and Daniel Campos, all second-year Ph.D. students), who bought tickets months ago. I’d been on the fence but eventually caved after a recent breakup with my summer situationship. Horrible, I know. But who better to help heal my heart than the king of heartbreak himself?
Shane Boose started releasing music in 2021 under the pseudonym ‘sombr’ and rose to fame shortly after. At just age 21, he has nearly 54 million listeners and made Time’s Top 100 list earlier this month.
His openers, the hellp and Tom Odell, were as far apart on the musical spectrum as possible. the hellp brought a techno DJ set while Odell slowed the pace with his indie-folk-pop vibe. Only one of these openers will be making my Spotify rotation, and I fear it’s the latter. The chorus of “We love you, Tom!” reverberating through the stadium confirmed it.
At last, it was time for sombr.
After broadcasting a recording of him waking up shirtless (eliciting many screams), shedding a cocoon of bedsheets and putting on a shirt, he emerged in flashy gold flared pants, a mesh top and black sunglasses. Combined with the costume and set, his opening number, “we never dated,” transported us to a sweaty New York City nightclub. sombr altered the yearn-forward, indie-rock anthem into a punchier club banger, setting the tone for what would be a high-energy night. What I wouldn’t do to be in a nightclub in NYC right now!
Buying this ticket, I anticipated “we never dated,” one of my personal favorites, would absolutely wreck me. Hearing “How come we never even dated / But I still find myself thinking of you daily” and “No, I can’t make you love me” over and over… I must report my prediction was right. Truly, “Why do you always leave me aching”?
sombr’s set paid homage to his native New York City with awnings, metal fire escapes and large orange pipes spewing smoke. “I really love the set design. There are little people in the windows,” said Sajkov during one of the song transitions, while Walsh said, “I feel like I’m in New York right now.” Between songs, the screens turned into an NYC high-rise showing shadows milling about their homes. Take me back (I went to undergrad in NYC)!
Despite his surge in popularity, sombr remains as quirky and awkward as ever. His crowdwork was very Gen Z, especially given the abundant profanity — such as when telling the crowd to jump to fan favorites including “do i ever cross your mind” and “potential” — dropped throughout the show. “He’s got quite the potty mouth for someone who was born in 2005,” as Sajkov put it. Along with his antics of showing the camera his rear, it was clear that he wanted his audience to relax and not be afraid of being a little silly.
To no one’s surprise, I’ve recently been playing “back to friends,” “Homewrecker” and “12 to 12” on repeat. In the packed stadium, I felt every beat of “how can you look at me and pretend I’m someone you’ve never met” to my very core.
As the recognizable intro for “12 to 12” began, sombr hyped up the crowd by ad-libbing the cha-cha slide by telling us to “slide to the left,” which got us all boogieing in the stands.
“12 to 12” also made me miss navigating undergrad life in NYC with my best friend. “In a room full of people I look for [her],” and I still do.
With a brand built on finding beauty in everything, especially through his song “My Body Isn’t Ready”, sombr embraces the imperfect. He repeatedly reminded the audience that we were “exactly where we’re meant to be.” Near the end of the night, he spray-painted the words “San Jose Rocks” on a flag and ran around the stadium waving it. When sombr tells his fans “YOU ARE THE REASON” he’s here making music, he means it.
So when, halfway into our Uber home, “back to friends” came on the radio, I could imagine hearing sombr’s boyish laugh as he shouted, “You are beautiful, San Jose. Thank you for being beautiful.” And thank you, readers, for being beautiful too.