Jeremy Loops played at the Studio at Webster Hall on Wednesday, June 24th. I have to start by saying that I have never been to a show with more positive and supportive energy. While the venue is fairly small, it was packed and every person in the audience was thrilled to be there. Jeremy Loops comes from Cape Town, South Africa—as did many people in the audience. Fans at the show were waving South African flags and t-shirts. The cultural pride was unbelievable and unexpected at such an intimate performance in New York City.
For much of the show Jeremy Loops was preforming as a one-man band. His signature is a loop pedal. He creates his sound by laying sounds created with toys brought on stage, a harmonica, and a variety of vocal and instrumental noises. Almost every element of the show was produced organically on stage—not prerecorded. This component of creation on stage made the performance extremely compelling. His show represents creativity, emotion, and a unique mix of genres. Many songs include singer/songwriter-esque guitar playing, folk inspired harmonica, rap, electronic looping, and voice alterations. It may be hard to see these elements intermixing; yet, Jeremy Loops melds genres naturally. He considers his music to be modern folk.
The show starts with Jeremy Loops on stage explaining to us how the music will be created using loop pedals and showing us a few examples. From here he immediately starts beat boxing with a harmonica. It was lively and authentic. His first few songs—“Mission to the Sun”, “Sinner”, and “My Shoes”—were all unique and refreshing. His music is the type that effortlessly eludes happiness. Toward the middle of the show he had a talented saxophonist and a rapper on stage supplementing his sound. The group worked together brilliantly. After a few encore songs, Jeremy Loops had the audience sing a verse. He then looped the verse into the chorus of his song. This embodies the communal energy present at he performance.
Not only is Jeremy Loop’s music inspirational and upbeat; his other work has the same motivation. When he is not writing music he is helping to run greenpop.org—an organization dedicated to planting trees and reconnecting people with the planet. If you’re looking for a reason to smile, you can check out Jeremy Loops at the Brooklyn Bowl tonight. While his recorded music is fantastic, the live show is an entirely unique experience.
Set List: Beat box Harmonica, Welcome, Mission to the Sun, Sinner, My Shoes, Down South, Running Away, Only the Good die Young, Skinny Blues, See I Wrote it for You.