A deserted lamp post stood center emitting a sepia toned flickering light. “Dream Of Mickey Mantle” echoed throughout the arena, and Jack Antonoff, lead singer of the band Bleachers was underneath the single light source. The flickering lamp ceased to be the one light, then blue, pink, purple, and orange lights emerged with a screaming crowd.
“This shit’s already more feral than I thought it was going to be, let’s just do it,” Antonoff said as they went into “How Dare You Want More” off of their LP “Take the Sadness Out of a Saturday Night”.
The American pop-rock band from New Jersey, Bleachers, known as the artist and producer Jack Antonoff performed their first headline arena at The Forum in Los Angeles and took the sadness out of a Wednesday night for his crowd on June 29.
The band first debuted in 2014 when they released their first studio album “Strange Desire” and emulated a distinctive 80’s synth-rock, similar to the album “Too Low For Zero” by Elton John. The following year Antonoff released a second volume to the album where he had different pop artists cover the record. One can hear each instrument clearly while listening to Bleachers— from the tenor and baritone saxophone, to the percussion, Bleachers’ style is very uncluttered.
“Seen us or not, do you hear that low sound in the arena? The worst thing in the world is you take it away [sound disappeared] and there is so much anxiety and so much silence. That sound is the backbone of the baby. Put it back [sound returned], and you feel fucking glued together. Do you feel it? [crowd screamed],” Antonoff said. “You take it away [sound disappeared], holy shit, you put it back [sound returned], it’s taking the sadness out of a Wednesday night!!!! [crowd screamed]”.
The frequency of the low sound was similar to a hum. The resonant hum from a string, or synth. Antonoff said there was an uncomfortable silence he had experienced in his life before he released “Strange Desire”. There was a specific sound for him that filled the silence. The sound helped influence the project.
“Quick story. You ever been in a place in your life, maybe something right now, where you have a good thing going? You feel like shit, and then you feel guilty that you feel like shit? They don’t tell you about that one, it’s a weird one. Everything is seemingly good, but there’s this bad feeling inside of you. It sounds like silence. The bad feeling is silence. I had that silence in my life right before I made “Strange Desire,” I went online (and searched), what fucking keyboard did Depeche Mode use? What’s Robyn using, what’s that sound? What’s that low sound that I love,” Antonoff said.
The familiar sound is from a popular synthesizer called The Roland Juno 106 (1983). It’s the same synth Depeche Mode, George Micheal, Daft Punk, and Tame Impala to name a few have used on their records. It’s an analog synthesizer with oscillators that can be digitally controlled. The synth was designed to be easy to use, and contain the necessary sound wave shaping tools to produce smooth soundscapes. The Juno 106 can be heard not just from their album “Strange Desire,” but from Bleachers’ entire discography.
“I bought it, it came to my house, I plugged it in, put my headphones on, and boom. I feel that sound,” Antonoff said. “It’s in every one of our songs, and I love it because you hear how it’s so dark and has all of the horrors of being a human. Then it’s so fucking hopeful for no reason, do you feel that with that sound? [crowd screamed] I got my headphones on, and I start fucking around. It was the first thing I ever did for this band. I went like this,” Antonoff said as he motioned his hands to play the synthesizer.
Antonoff said the sound gives him hope because it helps him block away outside noise. It reminds him of when he put on his headphones with the synth that inspires him to write songs. He wanted to tell the story because he said he remembered the first shows Bleachers performed, at South by Southwest (SXSW), then at The Troubadour. He was excited for Bleachers to be back in Los Angeles performing at an arena like The Forum.
“I just want to say I hope the Supreme Court burns to the fucking ground. If the future means getting together with decent people that’s exactly what we’re going to fucking do. Seeing everyone here means the world,” Antonoff said.
The show concluded with giant inflatable tomatoes thrown into the pit, and the band performed “Stop Making This Hurt,” from their album “Take the Sadness Out of a Saturday Night,” which had a remix recently done with A.G. Cook on the track. It has a golden tomato on the single, thus the reference.
The latest release one can find from Bleachers is a cover of John Lennon’s single “Instant Karma!” off of “Minions: The Rise of Gru” soundtrack released on July 1.
