In late June soulful Fort Worth, Texas resident Leon Bridges made his return to New York as a part of his first official headlining tour across the states for his winning debut album Coming Home (released via Columbia Records). He played a two night run, with the first at Bowery Ballroom, and the second at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Both shows sold out immediately, with demand far exceeded available tickets. So much so that when I arrived for his performance at Bowery Ballroom, that there was an entire line of nearly a dozen or so people outside who unfortunately bought fake tickets from craigslist. A rather depression reminder to be very careful if you do buy tickets from there.
But for those lucky enough to get inside Bowery Ballroom, they were treated to a wonderful showing from Bridges. Both of Leon’s next New York shows feature slightly bigger performances at the Apollo Theater and Webster Hall, both of which sold out almost instantly. So it was clear that getting to see Bridges at the always intimate Bowery Ballroom was a special treat, as he is destined to play much bigger theaters very soon.
The performance was a more refined performance from the one I saw at Mercury Lounge earlier in the year, with Bridges sounding even more at ease and confident. Coming Home delivered every bit of the promise that his early demoes offered, and then some. Being backed by White Denim’s Josh Block and Austin Jenkins certainly helps Bridges band feel like an established rock band, able to handle the retro-soul grooves that Bridges dials it back to with natural precision and ease.
If anything, Bridges got too big too quickly, as he’s playing pretty hyped shows, with only one album’s worth of material to work with. He extended his set with unreleased songs “In My Arms” + “Daisy Mae” as well as a cover of Lauryn Hill’s “Ex Factor.” But as far as his performance went, Bridges wowed all of us in attendance. I treasured the intmacy of his performance, as he’s surely destined for much bigger things in the immediate future.
Find the setlist posted below, along with some more photos of his performance.
Setlist:
1. Better Man
2. Brown Skin Girl
3. Flowers
4. Pull Away
5. Smooth Sailin’
6. Coming Home
7. In My Arms
8. Twistin’ & Groovin’
9. Lisa Sawyer
10. Shine
Encore:
11. Ex Factor (Lauryn Hill Cover)
12. Daisy Mae
13. River
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