The Japanese House w/ Blaise Moore
Crocodile, Seattle, WA
03.06.17
From opening for the 1975 at WaMu Theater nearly a year ago, to selling out Sunset Tavern at the end of November, Amber Bain, AKA The Japanese House, hasn’t played in Seattle much, but she certainly delivers a powerful set each time she does. Her sold out night at The Crocodile left many desperate fans scrambling around outside trying to get last minute tickets, and her set later that night proved exactly why.
The night opened up with Blaise Moore, a singer who effortlessly blended classic R&B with modern electronics. Even with only a single EP out, her sound was pretty well developed into the kind of smooth and moody tunes that are becoming increasingly popular. With universal lyrical themes about breakups and relationships, it would be easy for her music to catch on and make it big. However, her live show isn’t the best illustration of this.
While she had a powerful presence, it took a while for her to warm up to the crowd. The beginning of her set was pretty tame—she simply walked on stage among cheers and sang the entire first song just standing at her mic front and center. A few songs in though, she seemed to be a little more comfortable and started moving around the stage, dancing a bit to her music. Moore’s set could have been a lot stronger, but it definitely wasn’t bad as an opener; a nice touch to the night, and a fun contrast to the delicacy of some of TJH’s songs.
I had the pleasure of catching TJH almost a year ago opening for The 1975, and she got me hooked. While Bain had a great performance, it’s understandably hard to really stand out playing before an act like The 1975. Needless to say, I was very excited for her headlining Crocodile performance. I knew she had been around on tour recently, so she’s gotten lots of practice, but I was also excited to see her in such an intimate space, rather than the giant concrete box that is WaMu.
From the minute Bain walked on stage, I was blown away by how much better the performance had gotten in just a year. She walked on stage smiling and laughing, greeting the crowd with a confidence that was lacking before. She had a new carefree kind of attitude, interacting with the crowd and cracking jokes, but still buckled down to get into her deep tracks.
The night opened up with “Clean,” a perfectly dreamy and atmospheric track that sums up TJH’s sound. Her set continued with more fun, cloudy tracks with incomprehensible lyrics, and the crowd ate it up. They sang along passionately and swayed happily.
As a change of pace, Bain began to play “Sugar Pill” towards the middle of the set. The track started off a lot heavier than most, and the rest followed the same theme, with a darker, more intense melody matched with emotional lyrics. Despite the depth of the track though, Bain still laughed in the middle of choruses and messed around with the crowd happily, all without taking away from the song. After a few more fun tracks, TJH closed off the night with “Still,” her most popular track, and the perfect sing-along to end the set.
TJH had a great night, and certainly one that deserved to sell out The Crocodile. A year ago, her set was a bit emptier. Emotional songs played with feeling, but nothing with the intensity to match the tracks, and not a lot of personality within the set. Now however, the performance has transformed into a beautiful set filled with laughter and a feel-good vibe that’s happy to settle down for emotional songs or dance along to upbeat ones.
Review by Lulu Dawson
Photos by Zach Etahiri
The Japanese House
Blaise Moore
