Steve Madden Music Presents: Broods
Disclaimer: I received an unexpected gift card at the event but this post is NOT sponsored. All opinions are unaltered and my own.
So I got to see Broods last week! The show was a free event presented by Steve Madden Music at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.It sold out in 10 minutes and I was lucky enough to score two tickets. This week instead of the usual weekly roundup of music (you can check past posts here, here, and here) I want to share my concert experience! I went with my partner, A and we both really enjoyed our time. At the start of the evening though we had to wait for over an hour and was let into the event a bit late.
The Wait
That night it was pretty cold and since most people have fallen victim to spring fever we were all painfully underdressed for the windchill. To give you a bit of background, A is from Lebanon, is not used to cold weather and gets rather antsy (read: grumpy) when he has to wait in a line.
I, on the other hand, attend concerts pretty regularly and have yet to experience a show where I’ve been let in the venue on time or where the act begins performing exactly at the scheduled time so I’m used to it. However, when we were finally allowed inside we were able to make it straight to the front of the stage and I couldn’t have been happier!
The Opener
The opening act, George Maple, was a band I was familiar with but I hadn’t previously heard any of their music. The female lead, who’s stage name is George Maple, had stage presence but unfortunately, the sound in their set was a bit fuzzy and I’m not sure what was going on.
It was fixed later when Broods played so in the end, it didn’t spoil the whole event. I was pretty into the beats but wasn’t totally able to hear the lyrics due to the sound issue.
This was a pretty big bummer since lyrics are a huge deal to me. It’s how I connect the dots between the story the artist is telling and my own life. I know not everyone thinks as deeply about the lyrics – especially if they’re more into club bangers where it’s more about the beat than what’s being said (trust me I love a good party song & as much as the next person). I looked them up later on and found that I quite like them.
Stage Outfit
Not every set is perfect and she came onto the stage in an outfit very reminiscent of Princess Jasmine so seriously all is forgiven in my book! Haha.
I was thinking about the fact that her gold cuffs/choker, bare midriff and flowy pants we’re bringing me back to my childhood and then at the end of the set I heard a guy behind me say “She was like Princess Jasmine, right?” Any woman who can give me Princess Jasmine realness and look good doing so gets plenty of applause from me!
If you have some time I’d check out George Maple’s video for “Talk Talk“
Now onto Broods!
If you’re not already familiar with them, Broods is a sister-brother duo (Georgia and Caleb) who hail from New Zealand.
They first started making waves with their debut single “Bridges” (you can see the video here) back in 2013 which continued to make the rounds well into 2014 before the debut album, Evergreen, was released last August.
Below is the video for their song “Mother & Father” – check out how comfy and cool Georgia’s look is. Summer outfit inspo anyone? Don’t worry I’ll exclaim “Yes” for all of us.
There are plenty of other songs that I could also suggest you check out like “L.A.F“ but then I’d go on forever. So instead I’m basically going to turn this into a Broods PSA for a second . . . STOP EVERYTHING & GO STREAM THE ALBUM (Evergreen) NOW!
The Headliner
Georgia came out onto the stage in an ethereal mesh oversized top with billowy sleeves that made her look like a butterfly. She was wearing a pair of sick Steve Madden lace-up shoes (sold out). The shoes were pretty much love at first sight for me (Sorry A! They’re so awesome though).
I spent a great deal of time staring at her shoes, determined to ingrain them in my mind so I could find them online afterward. They looked perfectly comfortable, not too high, and with a thick enough heel that I could probably walk around for hours in the city without feeling discomfort. Ok, I’ll stop gushing over the shoes now!
The Performance
Throughout the show, Georgia and Caleb really knew how to give the crowd what they wanted which was to deliver as much music as possible. They kept the chit-chat to a minimum, only pausing for a moment to thank the crowd and intro a brand new song. Now don’t get me wrong I love hearing what the artist has to say.
However, the fact is that most free shows lean towards the shorter side and depending on the artist that could lead to less music if they spend that time talking and to you leaving the venue a bit disappointed that they didn’t make it to your fave song.
Broods played all the hits, even the ones not included on their debut album, and sounded just as good if not better than their record.
They played all of my faves and a few songs that mean a lot to A and I. It was really special hearing the songs that marked milestones in our relationship directly from the source. As I’m writing this I have their album playing in the background and I’ve grown even more fond of each and every track. They truly are a band where you can just hit play and let the sound waves consume you.
Georgia had a blast as you can see in the below video and I think you can tell I did too! You can see other bits from the show if you check out Instagram.
BONUS: Oh and to top it all off after I posted a snap on Instagram of George Maple I won a $50 gift card from Steve Madden! Guess I’ll be claiming Georgia’s shoes for myself! Haha.
Hope you enjoyed my review! See other Steve Madden Music features and next week look out for my experience at the Years & Years show at (le) Poisson Rouge followed by my take on Jessie Ware at Terminal 5.