A Sold-Out New York City Debut - bby At Main Drag
Hailing from London, bby is a guitar-driven band with a grunge, rock, and alternative sound. Their music is often genre-bending and exceeds typical categorization. bby includes Benjy Gibson (vocals), Jessy Jacquet-Cretides (guitar), Deon Graham (bass), Tommy Medica (guitar), and Tom Parkin (drums). With a quick rise in popularity, bby has collected a dedicated fan base. Playing only their first show ever in New York City, the venue was sold out.
A half hour before the opening bands began at Main Drag in Williamsburg, fans had already filled the area right in front of the stage. Then, minutes before bby was set to take the stage, the room was filled with people, reaching the far back wall and lining the metal industrial staircases. Cheers rose as one-by-one, bby ran down the metal stairs and through the crowd, jumping up on stage as each band member prepared to play.
Gibson steps up to the mic. In his hand hangs a half quart of juice in a plastic jug. He raises the jug up to the audience as a pretend cheer before he speaks. “How you doing New York?” Gibson takes a step back and smiles. The other band members continuously glance up and down towards the audience while they grab their respective instruments, plug in chords and turn on electronics. Gibson shifts forward once more up to the mic. “This is our first ever show we’ve ever done in America!” The sounds from the crowd grew even louder as the set opened with the bassist playing a few chords until the entire band joined in.
As the first song ends in an abrupt fashion, Gibson introduces the band for the first time, something he will continue to do through their set, seemingly passionate about his band members and making certain they receive their credit. “You don’t mind five minute, ten minute versions of each song?” Gibson asks the audience who cheer in response. The band stands still and watches the audience reaction while they all smile. Gibson’s singing is electric, never following a typical vocal performance. Some parts of songs are sung ‘normally,’ whereas others are words or sounds Gibson quickly speaks into the mic, creating quite an eclectic feature of their sound.
bby continued to surprise their audience throughout the entire set. Live, there were several unexpected elements when it comes to how they structure their music. During a brief pause in a song, the audience is left wondering what is coming next; words spewing fast into the mic, all the instruments drop out except the bass, playing a solo matching the cadence, or the guitars joining to compliment each other, one person playing the rhythm and the other playing a higher toned riff.
Several times during their set the guitarists and bassist would switch instruments. Between ending a song and beginning another, they would quickly slip off their instrument’s strap and pass it by its neck to a different person. Sometimes the switch would happen for only one song; other times they would stay that way for a few before switching back again. Then, they do the same only a few songs later. Together the band exudes a natural performance energy needed to hook and latch a crowd for a set that exceeds an hour. Instead of audience members chatting to one another or even slowly trickling out to leave, bby held every person's attention the entire time, not a single person daring to miss their show from start to finish.
bby played many songs in their extensive discography. A few included, “Kinky,” “hotline,” and “u come near.” Cumulatively those three songs alone have garnered nearly ten million streams on Spotify.
“Pretty Boy” seemed to be a fan favorite based on the reaction from the audience. Right from the start, the song features a nearly infectious rhythm, the type of song that injectsits bass and guitar riff right into the body of the listener, impossible to resist. In the middle of the song, the instrumentals disappear for a brief moment while the band members towards the front of the stage stand in a line together repeatedly singing, “Man, you’re so pretty boy, pretty boy, pretty boy.” In an almost rehearsed fashion, the audience sings the same lyrics as the band beckons the crowd to continue with them until the tempo of the final bass and guitar notes slow to silence.
Towards the end of their set, mid-song, the band comes to a complete halt. Into the mic, Gibson says, “we should get a drink,” with a slightly devious smile, first looking out into the crowd, then shifting his gaze to each band member. Leaving the audience slightly confused in the moment, the band puts down all their instruments. Collectively they jump off the stage into the front of the audience where the crowd shifts to make room for them to walk. The band pushes through the crowd to the small bar in the back corner of the venue. The bartenders make each musician a drink as the audience is turned, watching the spectacle. In unison with a clear plastic cup, they each raise it up to the sky, then take the shot. After placing the cups back down, single file they walk right back up to the stage, hop up, grab their instruments, and in an instant pick right back up into the middle of the song.
“We’ve come to the end pretty much,” Gibson says into the mic and pauses. “This will be our last one.” Immediately, sounds of disappointment rise from the audience. “New York, this has been … we’ll remember this shit forever. We appreciate you so much. Cheers, cheers. We’ll be back soon.” It was evident that their sold-out U.S. debut in New York City was a hit. And next time, it seems quite likely the crowd will continue to multiply in size.
Keep up with bby on Spotify, Instagram, and their website.
All photos via Tori McGraw (@afterr.hourrs)
