Running in the Night :: FM-84 @ Elsewhere Hall

God, I love retrowave. There’s something about the way it completely steals me away, making me nostalgic for an era I never lived in. Retrowave is based in the sounds of the 1980s, particularly the distinctive sounds of the movie soundtracks and video games. The music swirls with synthesizers and whimsical lyrics that long for lost loves, lost days, or the vibrancy of a sunset. If I were to describe retrowave as a scene, well, let me set it for you. It is South Beach at sunset, the neon lights from the art deco buildings lighting up around you. The convertible top is down, the ocean breaking in the distance, the smells of salt and sand and Cuban food waft into your nose, and the ocean breeze is tousling your hair in the dwindling heat of the day.

Debatably, FM-84 is one of the three major bands to occupy this niche genre, along with The Midnight and Timecop1983. I also got to see The Midnight this weekend, but we’ll get to that in the next post.

I was super excited for this show, but it didn’t come without its frustrations. A little exposition: I’ve been casually in communique with frontman Ollie Wride for a while now. The Brit had gone on a liking spree on my Instagram account when I posted the photos from my first show by The Midnight. I clicked around a bunch, scrolled Ollie’s feed, and discovered FM-84’s music. Several months later, I messaged him, and while I don’t remember why, when, or how, we became acquaintances. I’m using that term loosely, since friends doesn’t quite fit but neither does complete strangers. Anyway, upon the announcement of the tour, I reached out to Ollie. Ollie gave me his management’s contact information, and then I had reached out to their management. All the way back in March I secured myself a pass. I was told to reach out 7-14 days before the gig to confirm details and my pass. I set myself a reminder to do just that.

Two weeks before the show, my phone chirps its reminder. I shoot an email and go about my business. A week passes. Silence. I sent another follow-up. Silence. I started reaching out to other people to try and obtain a pass, fearing I wouldn’t hear back from management. I reached out to the opener. She was lovely, but didn’t have the authority to give out a pass. I reached out to Randy, a colleague of mine and good friend of Ollie’s. Randy reached out to Ollie, and I also began to reach out to Ollie too, but never finished my inquiry since Randy got back to me and said Ollie mentioned it to management. I had only asked Ollie if they had changed management again? I received an “Again, darling?” response that, to me, seemed that Ollie had been rather irked at my question, or me. Either way, management finally got back to me and told me that I was all set for the night of.

I decided to rent a lens for the weekend since I had two big shows to shoot. I was super excited to use the EF 24-70 f2.8 L II. It’s basically one of two lenses you need to photograph everything concert. It arrived a couple days before the show and it sat in its Pelican case looking beautiful and I was excited to try it out before I decide to buy it eventually.

Elsewhere is an unassuming performance space in Bushwick, Brooklyn. It’s a bunch of venues inside a bunch of steel storage containers in the graffiti’d warehouse district. It’s oddly beautiful. My two friends and I met up, waited in line for a bit, and then went inside when doors opened. I got to the desk where they had the list, and much to my frustration, I wasn’t on the list. After all of that fuss, I guess I was right to be stressed out. I pulled out my email chain with management, and they let me in. No further problems there, but I was still annoyed.

The venue didn’t have a pit space set up, which always makes it much harder for me to take pictures. People get angry if you’re pushing through them to get photos, regardless of whether or not it’s your job to do so. I still haven’t gained the confidence to do it aggressively, so I mostly stuck to the sides throughout the evening.

The opener, Jessie Frye, came on wearing a bodysuit festooned with rhinestones and billowing transparent skirt that twirled around her as she moved and seduced the audience. I didn’t have feelings for her music one way or the other. My friends didn’t like her. Maybe it wasn’t he right audience, weird since she was definitely retrowave, but the energy in the audience was definitely subpar.

I was less focused on the audience, though. The lens I rented was under-performing. I was so frustrated. I was angry. Every photo I took with it was blurry. It had halos. I tried for three songs with it, and honestly thought it was defective. Giving up, I switched it out for my nifty fifty and yielded much better results. I thought maybe it was the terrible lighting, but I didn’t want to waste my time trying to figure it out. I had photos to take.

The energy definitely skyrocketed when the lights dimmed and FM-84 made their entrance. First came the brains of the operation, Col Bennett, followed by guitarist Josh Dally, and finally out struts Ollie Wride, clad in what I could only describe as a metallic leopard print suit and his dark eyes lined in eyeliner. I often joke that “if Ollie isn’t wearing an ostentatious suit, is it really even an FM-84 show?” But my goodness, combine that with his English accent, confident strut, and the flipping of his fabulous hair, I’m fairly certain there wasn’t a person in the audience that wasn’t turned on and/or questioning their sexuality.

Ollie’s stage presence, image, and vocal range remind me so much of dearly departed Freddie. I watched him perform and felt that spirit in Ollie more so than I’ve felt watching Adam Lambert perform with Queen (in video, I mean, I’ve never seen Queen + Adam Lambert live). Maybe because Adam Lambert just tries to channel Freddie, whereas the Freddie flows through Ollie. I have no idea, but either way Ollie was enchanting to watch, and he had the audience wrapped around his fashionable finger. While the other two (Col and Josh) remained mostly stationary behind their instruments or synthesizer and whatnot, Ollie was so easy to photograph, doing that walk that you really can only describe as a strut. He was dancing, spinning, flipping the microphone, with a new expression on his face ever other second. He’s so much fun to watch.

So here’s a humiliating moment: I never do this. Literally, I had never done this until that moment, so I can’t even imagine why my brain did what it did. At some point I was taking a photo, and Ollie reaches out over the audience , and my hand, even though one was pressed to the shutter for the camera, my other hand (which I’m not even sure was actually free) reached out too. Not only did he not reach me, but he was actually reaching for the guy directly behind me. I turned so red, but thankfully it was a concert so no one could actually see. I honestly believe it was a reactionary gesture because I never would have consciously done it.

At one point, Ollie stripped off the jacket of another suit he had changed into. The audience went nuts as Ollie flipped his hair back, spraying swooning audience members with his sweat. He picked up the keytar that had been resting patiently on stage. It only took a few notes for the audience to recognize the famous Tears for Fears intro to “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” You couldn’t help but smile. Everyone was so happy to be there, to be in that moment.

Anyway, after the show, I stood and waited for my turn to introduce myself to Ollie as the face behind all the annoying messages. Security started to usher us out (there was another show coming in) so we hurried through the motions. We took a picture, and I was even more awkward here. I made dumb jokes, and I generally don’t feel comfortable touching people I don’t know very well, so in posing for the picture I had my arm around Ollie but didn’t really touch him. And then someone, maybe it was my friend, had me pose with the poster he had just signed, which I don’t really want to pose with merch, but whatever.

But Ollie and I have spoken since my awkward encounters with him at the show. All is well.

It was a fun evening, even with the frustrations and embarrassment. I’d do it again, see them again, and hopefully be more prepared.

Here is the set list as written:

Intro (Buckle Up)
Wild Ones
Out of Time
Never Live Without You
Don’t Want To Change Your Mind
Jupiter
Arcade Summer
Let’s Talk
Bend & Break
Goodbye Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Never Stop
–
Encore: Running in the Night

Gear:
Canon T6s with EF 70-200 L IS II
Canon 6DmkII with EF 50mm f/1.8 STM

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