Some lineups look good on a flyer, and lineups that make sense the second the first act starts, and this one was the second kind. On August 21, Little Stranger headlined the Observatory OC in Santa Ana, the Orange County stop on their Broken Hearted Boys Tour, and they brought along three acts who have been turning up on each other’s records for years. Tropidelic, Jarv, and Damn Skippy supported them—four sets, one extended crew, and a room that never really cooled off in between.
Damn Skippy kicked things off with a ton of energy, setting the mood for the night and really getting everyone moving. The Carolinas rapper does not ease into anything—he came out at full speed and had the early arrivals on his side before most of them had found a spot on the floor. Jarv was up next and kept that momentum going. The Brooklyn MC and producer works in a classic boom-bap style without ever sounding like a museum piece, and by the end of his set, he had us ready for the next two bands.
Tropidelic came next, and they are always an exciting set—this night was no different. The six-piece out of Cleveland runs reggae, hip-hop, and horn-driven funk together in a way that should not work as smoothly as it does, and frontman Matthew Roads spends the whole set making sure nobody gets to stand still.
The set included “Follow Your Nature,” “New World,” “Sunny Days,” and “Same Hat,” with collaborations “Pressure” with Nahte and Skippy, “Movie Star” with Jarv, and “Holiday” with Little Stranger. That is the thing about a bill like this one—the guests are already in the building, so the collabs actually happen instead of getting name-checked from the stage.
Finally, Little Stranger hit the stage, and they owned every second of it. Kevin Shields and John Shields—no relation, best friends, Philadelphia by way of Charleston—are such a fun band to see live. Every second of their set was going off. Over the last few years, they have become one of my favorite bands to cover.
They opened with “Simply Business” and worked through “Sunburn,” “Coffee & a Joint,” “Mrs. Morton,” “Stormy Weather,” and “Kama Sumatra,” with Jarv coming back out for “Busted Brain” and “All the cool kids are doing it.” “Red Rover” landed the way it always does, and they closed the night out with “Hollywood Not.”
The Observatory is the right room for this. Big enough that the low end hits you in the chest, small enough that the band can see faces in the crowd. New material from Broken Hearted Boys Club sat right next to the older stuff without any drop-off, which isn’t always the case when a band is out supporting a fresh record.
By the last few songs, the whole floor was one big singalong, and that is really what this tour is—a group of friends who make records together finally getting to play them in the same room on the same night. All in all, this was an amazing night of music and friends. If the Broken Hearted Boys Tour comes anywhere near you, go.
TROPIDELIC
JARV
DAMN SKIPPY
