Cherub @ 9:30 Club

Just like last year, Cherub’s show at 9:30 was sold out on Friday the 16th. College-aged students congregated around the ticket booths at the venue. Everyone was clearly there for Cherub as the conversations throughout the general population present were sprinkled with three distinct words: Doses and Mimosas. However, we cannot talk about Cherub’s performance last Friday evening without first talking about the band who warmed up the crowd- Frenship & Emily Warren.

 

Frenship, an L.A. duo who are also signed with Colombia Records, was the second of two opening acts for Cherub. They were joined on stage by Emily Warren, who is featured on their supposed summer hit Capsize. Confusingly, despite being a duo, Frenship was also joined by a drummer and a bassist which may or may not be permanently touring with them. About fifteen minutes of their set were dedicated to technical difficulties which almost prevented them from playing any music and led to the crowed chanting for Cherub an hour prior to any type of stage presence.  Frenship struggled to regain the audience’s attention but were able to bring it back with a crowd-pleasing cover of Backstreet Boys’ Everybody. Upon the resolution Frenship resumed their set. Their live sound could be summed up as aggressive beachy alternative music blending the musical vibes of Imagine Dragons and Twenty-One Pilots. Their use of EDM style lights and occasionally shouty vocals created a confusing atmosphere and typical college party atmosphere vibe for Cherub to continue.

 

A relatively short intermission meant a slight dissipation in the crowd as the restroom lines were just as long as the line outside of the GW Deli in between Friday morning classes.

 

Cherub took the stage just a little after 11:00PM. Focusing mostly on their recent albums, Cherub played an unbalanced mix of music from albums 2014 and on. Their set was almost entirely comprised of MoM & DaD and the new album that has yet to drop, Bleed Gold, Piss Excellence while completing neglecting or avoiding albums Man of the Hour, 100 Bottles and Antipasto. Cherub’s onstage presence is akin to that of a wild summer college party- and everyone definitely pregamed. There was a lot of jumping on speakers, head banging, and fist pumping.

 

Despite the euphoria absolutely supported and created by the levels of social potion consumed that night, the crowd seemed to be just bumping along to the band’s music, waiting for them to play a song that may or may not ever come. Despite having 5 albums out, its quite clear that Cherub is still pretty much only known for Doses and Mimosas because no one in the crowd knew what was going on.

 

Lack of vibes or lackluster, we left before the concert was over.

-Eilish Zembilci

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