Jacob Collier first showed up in my YouTube algo with the colorful video for WELLLL. Cursory digging revealed he was a very talented multi-instrumentalist that didn’t fit neatly into boxes.
Fast forward to a few months ago when Tina Roth Eisenberg posted a reel from his concert in Brooklyn (spoiler alert, there is audience participation and singing involved). A quick search revealed he’d be in Cincinnati, so as a former choir member I grabbed tickets without hesitation.
Before the show I got a tap on the shoulder from my friend Nick. Whenever I see this man I know I am in the right place. He was there with his daughter and I hope I’m not ruining future security questions — it was her first big rock concert. (She understood the assignment when I made motion for a photo, see below.)
And what a first concert this would prove to be, staging was great, but the musicians were pretty incredible. Jacob would change instruments often and take every opportunity to redirect the spotlight to members of the band or the audience — energy levels generally hovered around 11.
And the audience ate it up — at times it felt like we snuck into a revival.
Back to spoilers… A few times in the show Jacob directs the audience to sing tones as an acapella choir. I struggled to find a note to hang my hat, but eventually landed on an octave that maybe possibly worked? What I had forgotten from all those times wearing a cummerbund on a riser was how much you need to breathe into your diaphragm to sing. It’s like, 60% breathing and the other 60% finding the notes.
I was reminded how wonderful it is to sing out loud in the company of others.
Chatting with some friends in attendance, they loved the artistry of the evening but didn’t connect with the vibe. Others loved it. But we all agreed that this young man is extremely talented. I look forward to seeing and hearing where he goes with his gifts.
