Boy Harsher @ Glass House Pomona
pomona, CA - April 17th, 2024
The sun sets on a glistening, California afternoon. Streets surrounding the Glass House in Pomona had begun to fill with Boy Harsher fans eagerly awaiting the night’s show. Having been a band for over a decade, the dark wave duo never disappoints, and their cult fanbase knows this is certain to be an evening that can’t be missed, with Pomona tickets selling out almost as soon as they became available.
Having met in film school, the multi-talented duo has not only released a large catalog of astounding music but has also created and scored their film “The Runner" and are keenly aware of the impeccable, visual presence that accompanies their music and the band’s electric chemistry together. Fans know attending one of these shows feels like getting a pass to live a night inside a Boy Harsher cinema, which is, (by the way) not to be missed.
By 10 PM the venue was fully packed with a pulsating crowd. Opening acts of the energetic Lucy (aka Cooper B. Handy) and the otherworldly, Eartheater, gave performances that felt like main events themselves and had the crowd seething for what was to come. A thread of vibrant lights began to glow from the stage, the crowd was welcomed by reverberating, synth textures from Augustus Muller that shook to the core and were paired with an evocative greeting by lead vocalist Jae Matthews, who let the crowd know Boy Harsher is in fact “a dance band” and everyone there was blessed to be able to dance into the night with them.
With not a dull moment in the set, the band played hit-to-hit as the energy in the venue seemed to climb higher all night long. Together, Matthews & Muller scored the film of the crowd’s night. It was one of those shows where you’re sweating, bumping into people around you and nobody is mad, everyone in the crowd was dancing, calling each other beautiful, exchanging numbers, and riding the wave together. The energy was euphoric as Jae & Gus took the audience on a ride to full climax. The room’s energy reached pivotal moments for hit songs such as “Pain” and “Fate” and moments when the band brought LUCY (aka Cooper B Handy) back out as a special guest to perform their hit “Autonomy” together. It felt as if everyone would have gladly danced into the morning hours, nobody left early.
This evening, as one can imagine all Boy Harsher shows to be, was one for the books and the kind of memory that left you feeling like you were a star character playing a part in something seductive and special for the night.
