Photos + Review | Tobias Jesso Jr. + Wet @ The Sinclair

Last Sunday night, Tobias Jesso Jr. returned to the Boston area after what seemed like five years, for those who have been waiting to see him. In reality, it’s been about 7 months since the 6’7″ singer songwriter set foot on Massachusetts soil.

Back in March, Jesso Jr. packed the upstairs at the Middle East and had the scalpers grabbing $100 a pop for a ticket. With that performance, Jesso Jr. seemed to further the mystique that surrounded him by putting on a note-perfect solo performance of songs from his oft-praised debut effort, Goon. This time around, Tobias was joined by the band Duk, which—as they played their way on to the stage from the second floor of The Sinclair—seemed to promise a fantastic night.

Unfortunately, the night didn’t seem to go as smoothly as we all would have hoped. And that included Jesso himself. Whether it was the technical difficulties, trying to compete with a full band for auditory dominance, a bit too much time spent at Oktoberfest, or perhaps a combination of all of the previously mentioned. At one point, Tobias took a break from the set to explain to the audience that he’d never really intended to be a singer, and that songwriting is really where his passions lay. He even recounted a tale of how he had played one of the songs from Goon for his mother before the album debuted and her response to performance was something along the lines of: “Maybe it’s time for those singing lessons.”

Despite the early struggles, Tobias—spurred on by exclamations of unwavering adoration from the crowd—rallied to close the set with favorites “Hollywood,” “True Love,” “Never Gonna Give You Up” (yes that one,) and “How Could You Babe” in a fashion that brought the room back to full fledged adoration.

Opening for Jesso on his extended tour of the U.S. are synthpop darlings Wet. After gaining love and affection from listeners and critics alike with 2014’s self-titled EP, the Brooklyn-based (and Massachusetts bred) trio are touring as the anticipation of their first full-length release builds to a fever pitch. This show was as much of a homecoming as a band could hope for as we saw the crowd rising and falling with every note out of lead singer Kelly Zutrau’s mouth. At one point in the performance, the support and emotions of the evening seemed to get the best of Zutrau, as she had to fight back tears before continuing on. Be sure to keep an ear out for their next drop, Don’t You, on Columbia Records any minute now…

Photos by Boston Concert Photography