“It’s crazy hearing so many people singing along to these songs. It never gets old,” said Kelly Zutrau, lead singer of Wet, the Brooklyn-based, minimal pop and modern alternative R&B group. Kelly, along with electronic producer and instrumentalist Joe Valle, guitarist Marty Sulkow, and the band’s new drummer Gabe Smith, performed at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC on November 19th for their “last real night of tour” before heading back to their home base of New York. With Kelly’s moving, refined vocals and the band’s unassuming presence, Wet gave the crowd exactly what they wanted – a simple, no-frills performance. They commanded the stage with grace while shedding light on their ability to stay true to their core musical tenets of emotion and honesty.

The concert was mainly a presentation of Wet’s debut album, Don’t You, released this past January by Columbia Records. The album defined their signature, “direct, minimal, and emotional” sound, as described by Kelly. The band also performed “The Middle” and “Turn Away,” songs that they released while on tour. Through plainspoken and unguarded lyrics, Wet’s theme is consistent throughout: vulnerability presented in a powerful way.

After teasing the crowd with airy guitar chords, the band opened with “It’s All in Vain,” a track rooted in the regret of heartbreak. While the subject of most of their songs is romance and particularly breakups, Kelly’s voice remains strong, calm, and crisp, which makes Wet’s music feel liberating, and, ironically, empowering. The band’s relaxed yet sophisticated guitar riffs, in addition to sparse electronic beats, added texture to Kelly’s vocals and created a spacious, sensuous aura.

While Wet performed mostly slow-tempo songs, with the exception of “All The Ways,” their performance did not wallow in any kind of sadness. Their most popular track “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl,” which has over 26 million streams on Spotify, was met with relentless cheering from the crowd. Before the song started, Kelly humbly admitted: “I just spilled a bunch of water into these light jacks. I think it's okay.” The crowd, who wouldn’t dare to criticize any aspect of their performance, comforted her with applause. The audience sang along as if it were life’s anthem, even overpowering Kelly vocals.

Like the music itself, Wet’s visuals and attire were tastefully minimalistic. During “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl,” four spotlights shot up from the ground and surrounded Kelly, who sang without using a microphone stand. White and gold lights casted misty shadows on Kelly, Joe, and Marty, creating a soft dreamscape. With smoke spreading slowly across the stage, Gabe’s drum kit was barely visible even from the front of the crowd. Their clothing – Joe’s red beanie, Marty’s white tee, and Kelly’s plain red sweatshirt and Levi’s jeans – was also modest. It was clear that the focus was the music rather than the band members themselves.

At the end of “Island,” Kelly gave the crowd a humble, “Thank you DC,” and walked quietly off the stage. As she left, the band continued, transitioning into a prolonged outro – a glorious jam session between Joe, Marty, and Gabe – decorated with neon blue spotlights that beamed across the crowd. When the electronic synths stopped, the jam session came to a dramatic halt, along with the lights.

In this short interlude, the band quickly set up Kelly’s autoharp in the dark, and she came back onto the stage. Once a single spotlight turned back on, Kelly said, “I’m going to try something different. I’m a little nervous,” she confessed, and, as expected, the crowd responded with an ovation. After singing an unknown cover, she asked the audience to sing along as she gently played the chords of “All the Ways.”

With “Weak,” Kelly sang another ballad-like plea of love, and the band ended the night with warm guitar chords and reverbing electronic synths. Slow jams may feel almost too unvaried for an hour-long concert, but it made an ideal soundtrack to a crowd that yearned to feel emotion. Refreshingly, Wet doesn’t try to be something they’re not. Their appeal stems from their ability to be real, and to be human.

Listen to the setlist on Spotify here.
Wet: Shows / Spotify / iTunes

For Tennyson, ordinary sounds become music-sampling gems. On Thursday, November 11th, Canadian brother-sister electronic duo Tennyson played a live set at DC9 Nightclub. For 20-year-old vocalist and producer Luke Pretty and 18-year-old drummer Tess Pretty, this marked the second-to-last show of their fall US tour. While their sound can be compared to Ryan Hemsworth and Flying Lotus, Tennyson doesn’t fit into any of these boxes. Performing live, they combine chirpy, unconventional samples with classical jazz elements to give audiences a chance to take solace in the sounds of everyday life.

Tennyson performing at DC9 Nightclub in Washington, DC

Tennyson started off the night with “All Yours,” which features a prolonged, instrumental intro. The track then jumps right into the whimsical bliss of Tennyson’s production that is filled with signature quirky synths and samples that make up the core of their music. From sneezes to doorbells, yawns, the sipping of a straw, and Toad from Super Mario, the samples feel silly, random, and even odd at first. But at the same time, they add a signature, innocent character to Tennyson’s compositions, even in more romantic, downtempo songs like “You’re Cute.” “Slipperz,” a nostalgic, endearing take on Destiny Child’s 2004 hit “Cater 2 U,” highlighted Tennyson’s ability to turn sentimental into playful. Lovely light clinks and clanks were sprinkled with glitchy, toy box-like beats and choppy, high-pitched vocals.

While Tennyson’s samples may seem frivolous, they also give a sense of genuine humanity to the music. The second track, “7:00 AM,” featured the beeps of an alarm and real sounds of snoring. Their smooth remix of Daughter’s “Smother” honed in on the calm of nature with the sounds of birds chirping and water flowing while also incorporating the meows of a cat and squeaks of a bedspring. With such lush production, Tennyson uses sampling to make the audience rethink and appreciate familiar, run-of-the-mill sounds. While their music is a euphoric, sonic mishmash of sounds, Tennyson’s use of silence and pauses in a live setting effectively created a sense of space and phrasing in each track.

The complexity of the instrumentation spoke to the musical talent of Luke and Tess. It was overwhelming to watch Luke tirelessly multitask, with his right hand improvising melodies on the keyboard and his left working nimbly on the MIDI controller to trigger various samples and sound bites. On the other side of the stage, Tess effortlessly played complex, syncopated rhythms on the electric drum kit. They glanced at each other for musical cues but also to share in their musical bliss with irrepressible smiles.

While the brother-sister dynamic was apparent and magical, Luke stood out as the center of the show. His dance moves and footwork – which were just as enjoyable as the music itself – mimicked the music with quick, unpredictable, and sprightly energy. He shuffled, got on his tiptoes, and continued to dance even with sweat dripping down his forehead. With such a contagious energy, the crowd swayed a little more emphatically, and their head nods turned into head bangs. Luke’s classical jazz background was indicative in the nimble keyboard work required in songs like “All Yours” and “You’re Cute.”

Luke also sang on a number of the songs – “Too Long,” “Fault Line,” “Beautiful World,” and “Tomato Land.” His vocals were strong yet boyish, which took away slightly from the magic of the unfiltered nature of their instrumental production. With “Fault Line,” for example, his vocals competed with the instrumentation. While Tess harmonized with Luke on “Beautiful World,” it would have been nice to hear Tess’ vocals showcased more throughout the set.

Tennyson ended with their most popular “Lay-by,” a track with over 2.1 million streams on Spotify. The track is idyllic and contemplative, starting off with an airy sample of a ringing car door and then building into Tennyson’s signature samples of laughs, clinks, and dings. After a period of sonic chaos, the performance died back down to the ringing car door. Like in the romantic, liquid production of “With You,” it was in these quieter moments that Tennyson called attention to their refined sound and versatility.

The modest, low-ceiling venue, combined with the small crowd created a sense of intimacy. The lines of neon lights behind Tennyson changed color in sync with the beat, creating a bright, visually stunning panel effect. The crowd, made up of teens and 20-something-year-olds wearing denim jackets and baseball caps, kept their smartphone use to a minimum. After the audience relentlessly chanted, “One more song!” following “Lay-by,” Luke and Tess smiled humbly and happily delivered. Their choice for an encore was the groovy, bossa nova-influenced “Tomato Land,” and they prompted the crowd to sing along, which they fervently did.

For the most part, Tennyson let the music speak for itself, not caking their performance with cheesy vocal interludes or inspirational speeches, just a number of sincere “thank-yous” – a testament to the fact that they’re still young and refreshingly unjaded. Like their music, Tennyson’s stage presence was full of charm and youthful zest, and, at the same time, elegance and poise. When Tennyson performs live, it’s hard not to recognize their raw, bright-eyed creativity.

Listen to the setlist on Spotify here.
Tennyson: Shows / SoundCloud / Spotify / Bandcamp