Days before their tour across the West Coast, Black Country, New Road stopped by New York’s Bowery Ballroom for two nights of intimate performances of their new record, Forever Howlong. Last night, they were supported by Asher White, an eclectic indie rocker with a punkish yet poppy flair to her. The six-piece band, cramped together in front of a ballroom bursting at the seams with fans, played a pitch-perfect set. Rarely does a band so young show so much professionalism, mastery, and ingenuity, all while embracing the zaniness and fun associated with their latest album. Black Country, New Road is not only a pleasure to listen to, but a great pleasure to watch!

Black Country, New Road is a band where, at least for many, the lyrics tend to be the main drawing factor—the part of their music that hooks into the listener’s brain and creates an almost unbreakable connection. It’s evident in the way the crowd reacted to performers, withholding the typical “shout-it-back” behavior seen at a concert and instead singing under one’s breath to not disturb the peace and hold the music close to one’s heart. (Although, people could not resist gleefully joining in one Georgia Ellery’s witty “I’m a walking TikTok trend” line in “Besties,” nor Tyler Hyde’s affirmation of sorts, “Many people would give an arm and a limb / to live where you live!” in “Happy Birthday.”) May Kershaw’s songs—the sweeping, drawn-out tracks that, while the meaning is esoteric and often obscured by vivid, surrealist imagery, somehow evoke raw, intense emotion—could only be revered. Since a track like “Forever Howlong” might mean something different to everyone, it felt appropriate to just let her control the entire room and let the words dwell in one’s ears. And so, she did! Assuming the role of conductor, she directed her bandmates with authority, acquiring their full support as she measured the pace for their choir of recorders, and her operatic, sweet yet slightly acidic vocals glided over the crowd’s heads as they held their breath in awe.

Yet what really affirmed the band’s galvanized rise in popularity may not be the poetic lyricism all writers seem to champion since their debut in 2021. Instead, it was their masterful playing of the instruments that genuinely convinced me that Black Country, New Road might be one of the best live bands. Again, a six-piece may seem large for a standard rock group, but one must keep in mind that, at least with BC,NR, it’s typical for each member to play at least three different instruments and switch between them live, oftentimes during the same song. Guitarist Luke Mark often seamlessly transitioned from acoustic to electric, sometimes shuffling to a corner to inject a bit of the dreamy slide guitar into pieces like “Goodbye (Don’t Tell Me).” As we’ve seen since the debut of “Turbines/Pigs” in the Bush Hall days of touring, Lewis Evans can play a complicated flute solo and, two minutes later, play an even fuller, more embellished version on the saxophone, quietly replacing one for the other without the audience even noticing. The biggest switch-up last night occurred when Kershaw and Hyde swapped places for “Socks,” supporting each other on the other’s respective main instrument (piano and bass). Even then, the quality of sound and playing never dropped: while each instrument on stage has its own character, body, sound, and method of playing, the band seemed to have a natural understanding of all of them.

It’s not just the band’s playfulness with their music that allowed me to better appreciate their last record. Even at their proper “stations,” Black Country, New Road excelled at using music to expand upon emotions expressed through the lyrics. Their live rendition of “Nancy Tries To Take The Night” might be the best example: aside from the melodic, hypnotizing sound coming from both Hyde and Mark’s classical duet, the track showed its teeth through the punchiness of Charlie Wayne’s drumming—especially when he is left alone to support Hyde’s vocals through hitting the rim of the drum with the sticks with all his force—as well as Evans’ repetition of that terse, almost overpowering saxophone riff that never leaves once Hyde’s lyrics begin to spiral into despair. The physical work required for each song, demonstrated by either the intricate finger-plucking of the several strings instruments used or how Wayne and Evans allow the sheer volume of the drums and sax to fill the entire space, gives Forever Howlong even more dimension, highlighting the intricate layering required to craft its full, bright, exuberant sound.

While I might have spent a great deal listening to Black Country, New Road in my life, seeing them in concert made me realize that the work to fully understand their sound is never over. They might change one crucial note in an instrumental break, re-order tracks on the setlist (as they did with “Salem Sisters” and “Socks”), subtly add a new riff, or switch whole sections of beloved songs (as they did with “Turbines/Pigs,” where they played the ending crash-out first), and suddenly the song can be appreciated in a whole new light. Their live set feels very much like an orchestra densely packed into a tiny tin can, bursting out once one unscrews the lid, and it’s sensational.

Words and photo by Victoria Borlando

order tickets for Black Country, New Road HERE