NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
It’s hard to believe it’s been over eight years since a young Declan McKenna (not that he’s not still young) won the emerging talent competition at the Glastonbury Festival. His first single “Brazil” was released on his YouTube channel and expressed dissatisfaction with FIFA and its governing body. That doesn’t change the fact that it has an eminently catchy and danceable melody. Fast forward to current day, after releasing two studio album, winning BBC Introducing Artist of the Year in 2017, and touring mostly non-stop, he kicked off his 2023 North American tour in Montreal last week and made stops in Albany and Syracuse before he hit Town Ballroom in Buffalo on Wednesday, May 31st.
Fans were lined up outside the venue several hours beforehand. McKenna’s music are often delivering a political or social message but, whether or not his young fans are tuning into his messages, his music is obviously speaking to Gen Z, and perhaps Generation Alpha but we don’t know since it was a 12 and over show. After entry, the venue was already packed before the opening band took the stage! One girl who had been waiting in line for hours in the unusual May heat actually fainted while at the barricade. She was given water but had to be taken out by medical personnel after she fainted again. But all’s well that ends well…she made it back in time for McKenna’s set!
Paris- based Oracle Sisters opened the festivities with their brand of dream pop, complete with airy and light falsettos from guitarists/vocalists Lewis Lazar and Christopher Willatt. Their debut studio album “Hydranism” was released just last month! Together with drummer Julia Johansen, who joins Lazar and Willatt on some beautiful harmonies, and bassist Simon Hanes providing the energy and strip tease, Oracle Sisters played a wonderful set with the crowd cheering the band on. Johansen was definitely a favorite of many in the audience.
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The star of the night, Declan McKenna, took the stage in what looked like a onesie covered by a silk bathrobe and sunglasses. McKenna had previous spoken about following in the steps of David Bowie and he’s definitely dressing the part. But with his hair growing out in the back, he reminds me of Oasis’s Noel Gallagher in his mullet years. He kicked off his set with a rousing performance of “Beautiful Faces”, the lead single from his 2020 studio album “Zeros”. His setlist comprised of pretty much an equal number of songs from his first and second studio albums. He also played a new song, mysteriously noted on the printed setlist as “New Song I”! The audience was singing and dancing the whole evening, extremely engaged. Oddly enough, McKenna didn’t seem to engage all that much with the crowd, at least not verbally. Either with his exuberant onstage performance, with his waving his arms up and down to psych up the crowd, or with just the music, he definitely connected with his fans deeply. Or maybe it was his removing the robe and performing in the onesie with the zipper pulled down to his navel!
With four songs left in the main set, someone in the crowd screamed “ENCORE!!!”. That did get a reaction from McKenna, who agreed…yes there will be an encore! As expected, the biggest reaction came with his biggest hit “Brazil”, with the whole crowd singing along. Towards the end of the set, McKenna waved his arms at the crowd and rushed forward, looking like he was stage diving into the crowd. Sadly for his fans, he had just jumped into the photo pit and promptly climbed back onto the stage.
When McKenna came back for the encore, it started with just him and his keyboard player. He introduced George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass”, one of his favorite songs, and he played a wonderful cover. He closed out the night with “British Bombs” and definitely left the crowd wanting more. That always makes for a good night of music. He’ll be touring across North America through August 1st on the first leg of the tour, resuming on September 27th and completing the second leg in early November. Catch this exciting young British singer/songwriter if you can. Next time, it’ll be in a larger venue!
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