These days, most casual observers know Jack Antonoff as one of pop’s most in demand producers, thanks to his place as a trusted collaborator of everyone from Taylor Swift and Lorde, to Lana Del Rey and St Vincent.
But long before the stars came a-knocking, the New Jersey artist started out by forging a path in a number of bands; the indie group Steel Train, the gaudy pop-rockers fun. and most recently, his widescreen, Eighties-influenced solo moniker Bleachers.
The latter, Antonoff’s bright, poppy take on carving out his own slice of rock’n’roll mythology, has continued growing in parallel with his growing collection of production credits.
And though his love of the studio got a look in during the first of two sold-out Bleachers shows in Kentish Town Forum – mostly in the form of the glowing ‘recording: studio in use’ sign hanging above his head, as well as a brilliantly nerdy interlude in which he waxed lyrical about the sound qualities of his favourite synthesiser – Antonoff’s jam-packed phone book stayed firmly shut for the night.
Save for an acoustic snippet of his Del Rey collaboration Margaret, the focus was entirely on Bleachers as a freewheeling live band instead.
And racing around their on-stage diner, complete with black and white chequered floor, Antonoff and his bandmates kept the momentum rolling, from the winking, Springsteen-flavoured pomp of Modern Girl to the swooning, end-credits-rolling romance of Wake Me.
Though the setlist skewed slightly towards Antonoff’s recent, self-titled fourth album, he opted for the straight-down-the-middle hits in place of its more experimental, electro-folk influenced tracks, which fleetingly felt like a bit of a shame.
Though the lower-key cuts weren't missed for long. Cartwheeling around the stage, parkouring over a white piano, and high kicking at every given opportunity, Antonoff summoned the spirit of the Duracell Bunny, constantly keeping the energy ticking over as his band rapidly traded instruments and hopped between two drum kits.
“Make this shit look like Glastonbury!” he commanded ahead of Rollercoaster, urging the crowd onto each other’s shoulders. “Get the f**k up!”
The mayhem even got the better of Antonoff during the penultimate song. During Bleachers’ 2014 mission statement I Wanna Get Better – a bright, bittersweet synthpop anthem about transforming his pain and grief into art – he fell off the stage, but continued singing as he writhed around in the pit, security scrambling to the rescue.
Once safely returned to the stage, Don’t Take The Money closed out the crowd-pleasing setlist. As well as the lack of encore, there were no shiny special guests in sight here: instead, Antonoff opted to bring things back to Bleachers, cramming in as many sax solos as humanly possible along the way.
