Central Park SummerStage (New York, NY)
08/03/23
On a beautifully sunny day, Central Park SummerStage in New York City held a show that effortlessly embodied what summer, live music, and New York are all about. Bittersweet Daze – a tour between friends that feels more like a mini festival – featured grentperez, Ricky Montgomery, and mxmtoon, with Cavetown headlining. The show raised money for Cavetown’s “This Is Home” project, a charity for LGBTQ+ youth, as well as the City Parks Foundation of New York, and included tables for various other nonprofits as well as a raffle by Lambda Literary, an organization that champions LGBTQ+ books and authors.
grentperez opened up the show with a charming set of indie-rock songs, starting with “Confusing Girl” off his 2021 E.P. Demo(s) About Love, followed by songs from his debut full-length, When We Were Younger, released early this summer. The too-short, mesmerizing set caught the attention of everyone in the audience and set the mood for the evening – while many seemed to already be familiar with everyone set to perform that night, everyone else became instant fans.
Shortly after, Ricky Montgomery took the stage, running out triumphantly holding a small plush Kirby like he had just won it in a tough competition. It wasn’t clear why, or if Kirby is significant to his music, but everyone in the audience was ecstatic, and several plush lemons and frogs (more explicable – both are associated with Cavetown) were raised in kind. He then kicked off his set with his most recent single, “Eraser.” To the crowd’s delight, he then played his biggest hit, “Line Without A Hook,” hopping off stage to get into the crowd halfway through. His energy throughout the entire set was infectious, and his stage presence was remarkable – from interacting with the crowd, to dancing, but also knowing when to sit in a moment and let it make an impact. Ricky clearly showed both his passion and artistry, capturing the heart of anyone in the audience who might have been unfamiliar or uncertain going in. He closed his set with “Mr. Loverman,” another fan favorite that notably went viral on TikTok due to a fan-made edit of the anime Banana Fish, the entire crowd even shouting a quote from the show during the bridge.
As the sun began to set, mxmtoon ran onstage to deafening applause. A 4-band bill can at times feel like it’s dragging on, but the transitions between sets were quick and the crowd never waned in energy, seeming equally excited for and displaying genuine enthusiasm for each performer, an attention and appreciation that seems to be becoming more rare at shows and was refreshing to see in such a young audience. First in the set was “fever dream,” followed with a lively performance of “sad disco” from her 2022 album, rising, during which both the crowd and mxmtoon broke into a dance party. She continued to impress throughout her set, with particularly noteworthy performances of her songs “prom dress” and “mona lisa.”
Finally, Cavetown came onto the stage, which had been redecorated with cardboard pieces resembling stalagmites. He ran out wearing his classic black knit hat with long dangly ears to a delighted crowd waving various pride flags and holding up stuffed animals. He opened with a performance of “worm food,” the title track off his 2022 release and most recent album, a stunning song with soft vocals contrasted against synth and drums that drastically build in intensity, which served as the perfect opener for his set. They continued with “Fall in Love With A Girl” off the same album straight into their 2018 hit, “Lemon Boy,” the crowd joyfully singing along so loud it could be heard throughout all of Central Park. A couple of standout moments in the set included when mxmtoon and Ricky Montgomery came back onstage to perform “Nobody Loves Me,” a collaborative song the three released together leading up to the tour, and “Juliet,” during which the audience got the loudest they had all evening, and several in the crowd started crying.
Bittersweet Daze was more than a tour – it was an experience, elevated by featuring a lineup of perfectly curated musicians, all seeking to create not just a concert, but a space to foster and celebrate queer joy. Being a part of a mostly queer, mostly very young audience on a beautiful summer day, and watching stunning performances by LGBTQ+ artists in New York City was a unique privilege on its own, and the enthralling performance that each artist gave made it a night that will be easy to remember and difficult to top.
