SAINT MOTEL PLAY BROOKLYN STEEL

Saint Motel took the concept of their most recent album, saintmotelevision to a whole new level when they created the vision for their Late Night with Saint Motel tour this fall. Brooklyn Steel was turned into the band’s own late night television show the night they came to town. AJ Jackson’s keyboard stand was enclosed by what looked like a TV from the 60s; Two cameras on either side of the stage were made to look like old cameras you might have seen on American Band Stand; on stage right was an APPLAUSE sign that lit up.

Saint Motel

SM

The guys in Saint Motel took out all the stops for their last tour of the year. As the crowd waited for them to come to the stage, what seemed like commercials from the 90s played on the projection at the back of the stage on a giant 2D “SMTV.” Commercials for Light Bright, Grey Poupon, and Cup-o-Noodles played on loop, as the crowd got giddy with nostalgia. There was even a section of old, seemingly 90s era, dating videos that played throughout as well.

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Actor and comedian, Johnny Pemberton, played the part of host throughout the night, making appearances through the SMTV projection and introducing the band. Saint Motel mostly performed songs off the saintmotelevision album but also threw in songs from the popular My Type EP, their 2012 album Voyeur and even an old favorite, “Do Everything Now,” from their 2009 EP ForPlay.

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Saint Motel

SM

AJ was very interactive with the crowd from jumping off stage into the photo pit to lean into the crowd, hopping on top of his retro TV keyboard stand as he wailed to the back of the room and even leaving the stage to run up to the balcony to get cozy with the crowd that had been watching from afar. The whole night felt like a more colorful and higher energy version of a performance that might have taken place on American Bandstand or a similar show from that time. We were taken to a different world that night and it was one for the books.