070 Shake’s postponed concert had the potential to fizzle out before it even began. January’s weather had iced over the original date, and with it, the chance for a seamless night of music. Yet, as fans crammed into the Eastern on Jan. 22, the air felt sharper, hungrier: like a collective exhale was finally due.
Opening the night, Johan Lenox set the tone with an avant-garde blend of live strings and electronic loops. A violinist and cellist sight-read his compositions onstage, their unfamiliarity lending the performance an edge of spontaneity. Lenox’s use of a loop pedal to build soundscapes was hypnotic — layer upon layer creating something fragile but determined. His set could have been chaotic, but instead, it was an act of balance, each sound woven with intent and reminiscent of the loop pedals used by Billie Eilish.
Following Lenox, Bryant Barnes took the stage, his energy a stark contrast to the opener’s introspection. With a kinetic performance that demanded attention, Barnes infused the room with rhythm, sending the crowd into a collective sway. His grooves felt like a heartbeat pushing the night forward, an irresistible momentum that bridged the space between anticipation and arrival.
When 070 Shake finally emerged, the crowd’s energy remained focused. Clad in muted earth tones, she commanded attention with a subtlety that proved more powerful than theatrics. Opening with “Elephant,” she didn’t ease into the performance — she pulled the audience in immediately, her voice cutting through the space with an aching clarity.
Shake’s performance was not just a concert but a study in contrast. Tracks like “Cocoon” held the audience in a vulnerable stillness, while fan favorites like “Guilty Conscience” erupted with communal catharsis. Her seamless transitions between genres — rap, electronic and the deeply introspective — felt like conversations between polarities: grit and grace, doubt and defiance.
“Glitter” shimmered with a hypnotic pulse, its electronic undercurrents anchoring her ethereal vocals. “Winter Baby/New Jersey Blues” carried a wistful intimacy; the crowd collectively sang with reverence, her music transcending entertainment to touch something more visceral, more human.
By the time she reached “Battlefield,” the energy was electric. The room pulsed, bodies jumping up and down as if caught in the same rhythm. And when the final notes of “Violent Crimes” echoed through the venue, it wasn’t just applause that followed — it was a collective silence, the kind that lingers when something extraordinary has ended.
070 Shake doesn’t simply perform; she excavates. Her music asks questions that resist answers, offering moments of clarity only to twist them into something more complicated. At the Eastern, she turned the stage into a space for intimacy, experimentation and release. Concertgoers came looking for a show but left with something closer to communion. In the end, the vibe of the room shifted from infrequent listeners to dedicated fans.