Rain poured down on Thursday night in Brooklyn, but refuge was found inside a cozy, dimly-lit Baby’s All Right. Fans poured in just the same, packing out the venue in all areas with idle conversation and anticipation for the show to come: Truman Sinclair’s first stop of the Pale Moon Pale Horse Anniversary tour. Baby’s All Right is quite an interesting venue, and one of my favorites to visit for a show that feels intimate and homely. It’s the kind of place where the line between the stage and the room dissolves; upon entering, you’ll find yourself in a room filled with booths and tables, bookended by a double-sided bar through which the stage is narrowly visible. It can feel like less of a concert and more of an intimate house party, like you're catching up with a friend on the couch in the living room while some live music drifts in from the next room over.
Through the bar and into the main room, you’re faced with the iconic and ever-recognizable Baby’s All Right stage, beautifully backlit with a large wall that features an array of twinkling lights in varied shapes and sizes. It provides a beautiful complement to a performance and makes every show a uniquely Baby’s show. Here, you’ll be shoulder-to-shoulder with other fans, dancing to your heart’s content. The venue is truly what you make of it, and it’s one-of-a-kind in that way.
As I weaved through the venue, I felt a sense of togetherness that was built even before anyone graced the stage. People meeting for the first time, coworkers discussing the day ahead, old friends catching up on lost time. Before Truman began his set, we bore witness to the beautifully plaintive strings and steel guitar stylings of Florida-native band, Oldstar. They charmed the crowd with their honest inter-song banter and their even more honest lyricism. As both an ex-Florida-resident and a long-time Oldstar enjoyer, this set made me feel right at home, and surely resonated in a similar way with many others in the crowd as well.
Shortly thereafter, Truman took the stage. The room had packed out front to back, and the crowd filled every crevice with energy and excitement. Though he is an LA native, both Sinclair’s music and his stage presence carry a sort of boyish, Southern charm that is incredibly infectious. It was a masterclass in intimate-venue-connection from start to finish. He had the room chanting every word back to him, and maintained a truly genuine sense of humility as he continued to pause in between songs to thank the fans for being there. Mid-way through his set, in reference to the frontman of the alt-rock powerhouse group Geese, Sinclair said to the crowd,
“As a wise New York musician once said… Love takes miles.” He paused. Then adding, “Connection takes miles. Revolution takes miles. So you’d better get moving.”
And he had the crowd moving all night, so the rest is sure to follow.
In a venue with no photo pit, I became one with the crowd, and was able to capture the show from the perspective of a fan. It challenged me to think differently about my shots, and step into a new vantage point. Baby’s All Right is intimate that way, for both the average concertgoer and photographer. It homes in on the essence of what it’s really like to be knee-deep in a sea of fans. When you’re in the crowd at a show (and you’re not at the barricade), you’re typically experiencing the artist’s presence via fleeting throughlines in the crowd. You’re angling your head to create an avenue that frames the artist perfectly between the two tall guys in front of you. You’re ducking to catch a glimpse of the stage under the arm of that one girl who won’t stop recording. Or you’re giving in and just watching it through her phone, for a moment being the first viewer of a video that may be shown to many others for time to come. Sometimes, not being at the barricade allows you to be just as personal with the artist, because you become one with the very sustenance that keeps them going: the fans.
Truman Sinclair released his newest EP, ‘Rivers of Sugar and Blood,’ this January, as well as an anniversary edition of his 2024 EP ‘Pale Moon Pale Horse,’ in March. This spring, he’s embarking on a nationwide tour as the opening act for Courtney Barnett. And, as he told us at the show, he’s also currently working on his sophomore album:
“It’s got like a hundred songs on it right now. Maybe I’ll just keep them all.”
We hope he does.
View the full gallery of photos from the Truman show HERE.