Monday brought another show in the Steve Madden Presents series, this time with Bishop Briggs headlining and Philadelphia transplant Anna Shoemaker opening. It was a cold day in Williamsburg but fans had started lining up around 3pm.
When Shoemaker took the stage at 9pm, she couldn’t contain her excitement and mentioned that this capacity crowd was the largest for whom she’s performed. Her excitement and giddiness was contagious and you had to be happy for her. She performed some of her own songs as well as covers, playing guitar and dancing at times. While she has a indie singer/songwriter vibe, you can see the pop influences in her music. Since she’s local now, she’s someone we should keep an eye on.
To contrast Anna’s muted enthusiasm, Bishop Briggs entered the stage with unbridled energy and it was infectious. She went through set, running back and forth along the stage, jumping and crouching, like a kid in a playground. My neck was getting sore just following her back and forth. I can’t imagine how the videographer for Steve Madden dealt with moving the heavy video camera and working the manual focus. Briggs went through pretty much her full discography including her latest single “Dreams” as well as the cover of Inxs‘ “Never Tear Us Apart” she did for the upcoming “Fifty Shades Freed” soundtrack. I was disappointed that there wasn’t an encore but I suppose her discography is not that extensive. Nevertheless, a really fun show. Thanks to Steve Madden for another year of amazing free shows!
NOTE: all photographs are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography. Full set of photographs can be found here
NOTE: all photographs are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography