Last year, Australian born singer-songwriter Blake Rose impressed us on tour supporting Noah Kahan. Rose’s opening set was electric to a sold-out Webster Hall in New York City. We instantly named Rose one of our rising stars in 2021, and now 11 months later we got to be there for his second headline show at Brooklyn’s, Baby’s All Right. His opening performance last year was fantastic, but on Friday night in Brooklyn, all of the fans were there to see him. The room was a buzz with fan’s excitement long before Rose even took the stage. Following a strong opening set from Carobae, the crowd participated in an impromptu sing-along as songs like ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ by One Direction and Taylor Swift’s ‘You Belong With Me,’ played in between sets and room full of strangers sang and danced at the top of their lungs you could tell it was going to be a good show.
Rose and his band took the stage to a loud roar from the crowd and “We Love You Blake’s,” from the crowd before he began his set with ‘Rollerblades.’ The opening song had it all, Roses soaring vocals, loud cinematic guitar riffs, perfect percussions, and sprinkled electric effects from Blake on keyboard. Rose’s seamless transitions from guitar to his standing keyboard is something that stood out the first time we saw him as well as today.
I was impressed by Rose’s stage presence. Whether it was in performances of songs like ‘Lady,’ or one of his newest singles ‘Magazine,’ Rose seemed to know exactly what the crowd wanted and song after song only built on each other. The singer-songwriter even gave the two rules of a Blake Rose show, 1) If you saw somebody dancing, you had to dance with them, and 2) If you saw someone you thought was cute, you had to ask them for their number. The audience didn’t need an excuse to dance, that was happening long before the invitation was out there. But he did share his wish for a “Blake Rose wedding,” of fans that met at his show, danced together, and got one another’s number. The room of strangers stopped feeling like strangers, and it elevated what was already great energy to be even better.
Throughout the set, there wasn’t a dull moment or single lull in his performance. The bands performance of ‘Casanova’ was so good that a fan asked him to play it again. I said in my head “this guy is a rockstar,” during the bands electric performance of ‘Demon.’ Fans freaked out singing along to the song that helped launch his career with ‘Hotel Room.’ Even when he prefaced a song almost apologizing the crowd of a “depressing,” song about when he fell for a girl in California, who broke his heart when he went back to Australia. He told the story which he joked was longer than the song, but it made what was already a free and intimate show feel even closer before playing ‘Ordinary People,’ with the crowd glued to every note and word that he sang about his heartbreak.
The show began to feel more like friends hanging out, laughing at Rose’s jokes between songs, hearing stories of heartbreak, and dancing to whatever he played next. Blake Rose truly put on a perfect performance. The rising star is set to hit the road with Dean Lewis for an Australian and New Zealand tour from November 3-December 3. Rose is perfectly suited for Lewis’s fan base and you can only expect the sky-rocketing momentum of him to grow.
Rose has had a number of strong releases this year with the latest being his new single ‘Dizzy,’ which will cause you to wax nostalgic and remind you of your favorite high school movie. Dizzy is joined by ‘Magazine,’ and last year’s debut EP ‘A World Gone By,’ which only sets the stage for his highly anticipated brand new EP, ‘You’ll Get It When You’re Older,’ outFebruary 24, 2023 via AWAL Recordings.
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