Gig Review: nothing, nowhere. at The Bodega

First to perform was sadeyes, an artist who is on his first ever tour, but you would never have been able to tell this if he hadn’t admitted it to the crowd during his set. He confidently performed a mixture of some of his older tracks like jaded and hi hru alongside newer ones like nyctophobia, the opening track of his new EP molotov that was released last week.

His endearing shyness shone through while he was on stage but didn’t hinder his performance, and you could tell he was grateful that the crowd gave him such a warm welcome. A cover of Owl City’s Fireflies was an unexpected addition to his set, with his softly autotuned vocals perfectly complementing the electronic, slightly robotic nature of the original song. 

He also sheepishly admitted that he was losing his voice, another thing that the crowd probably wouldn’t have noticed if it hadn’t been pointed out. His vocals particularly shone on the song jaded, where he powerfully belted “I don’t want to waste your time, I just want to give you mine”. These lines are relatively muted and understated on the studio version, but they could be heard in their full glory here, tinged with echoing autotune that made it feel like time stopped momentarily.

He was followed by guccihighwaters, whose discography may lead you to expect a more mellow and melancholy performance from him, but he curated a set of his most animated tracks to keep the energy of the crowd rising. This was a necessary decision to be made for his role as a support act to succeed, particularly when his set was scheduled at the halfway point of the evening, and since he was followed by an artist as lively as nothing,nowhere.

His set included a range of tracks from his discography, including older songs from his 2017 project post death, newer ones from his latest EP heartbreak highway, and songs taken from everywhere in between. This allowed the crowd to revel in the nostalgia of the tracks that brought him to prominence in the first place, such as his break-out song i’m so sick of this which he told the crowd had “changed his life”, while also being able to appreciate how far he has come since then on tracks like crash my car and dancing with the stars.

Something that is striking about these three artists is that they seem to attract somewhat of a cult following of passionate fans. Throughout the evening, the crowd weren’t just arriving last minute in a hurry or tapping their feet impatiently waiting to see the headliner - the venue was already almost full by the time sadeyes took to the stage, with fans who were fully engaged and appreciative of the moment, showing passion and support to all of the artists that they were listening to and watching.

It was clear that the fans of nothing,nowhere. were also just as familiar with sadeyes and guccihighwaters, which is likely due to the three artists' genuine friendships and frequent collaborations with each other. Their connection particularly shone when guccihighwaters brought sadeyes back on stage during his set to perform their collaborative track fast life. With their arms around each other as they performed, it was obvious how genuinely close the artists are; their natural chemistry was crystal clear to anyone who was stood in the audience. 

Things were kept moving quickly between sets with only very short gaps between each artist, and before long nothing,nowhere. took to the stage. He started his set with his latest single CYAN1DE, followed by an array of the more pop-punk leaning moments from his latest album Trauma Factory, including pretend, nightmare and fake friend, as well as the stand-alone single Pieces of You that was released shortly after which follows the same trajectory. The track buck was also a highlight, with the live version proving to be much more hard-hitting and high-energy than the studio recording.

Older tracks and fan-favourites Clarity in Kerosene and Letdown stood the test of time, as staples of nothing,nowhere.’s discography that will probably never be left off a setlist of his, and for good reason. Having last seen him live in 2019, back when this emo-rap sound was his forte prior to him exploring the pop-punk influence that has come to define him in recent years, it was a pleasure to see how far he has come in that time. He has expanded and developed his sound into the diverse amalgamation of influences that it is today, a unique blend of pop-punk and emo-rap that produced one of the most energetic sets I have ever witnessed at The Bodega.

Things culminated in a frenzied and chaotic mosh pit that formed at the end of his hour-long set, which he closed with unreleased track THIRST4VIOLENCE and death, one of his heaviest tracks to date, that was always bound to achieve this reaction from the crowd. He didn’t leave without giving the crowd an encore of his most popular song, hammer, a track which he had only recently released when I last saw him live, so to see him perform it again now it has gained such a defining and important position in his discography felt like a full circle moment.

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