Written by Ashley Friedman
Cavetown, otherwise known as Robin Skinner, kicked off his latest 2022 tour at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo, NY tonight. The singer-songwriter was supported by pop artist, Tessa Violet, and alt-indie musician, Addison Grace.
Starting off the show, Addison Grace performs hit songs like “Honeysuckle” and “I Wanna Be A Boy.” The 20-year-old has made a name for themselves as a singular new artist and is popular on social media platforms like TikTok with a current 3+ million followers.
During their performance, Grace mesmerizes the audience with their bedroom pop vibes and soft-spoken nature. As someone in the audience, Grace’s vibe felt genuine and wholeheartedly complete. Their voice was sweet and personable and each performance of Grace’s gave off a sense of intimacy, as if you were the only one in the room.
Soon, Tessa Violet takes the stage. Some may recognize Violet from fellow YouTube creator Nanalew’s music video for the song “Sail” by Awolnation. Throughout her performances, you can hear influences like Lorde, Bleachers, Taylor Swift, Cavetown, and Julia Michaels come to life.
Violet is a ball of energy on stage. The singer-songwriter came with all the vibes dazzled in a sparkling crop top and plaid skirt. The artist knows how to turn it up like in the song “I Like You,” but then slow it down for something like “Kitchen Song.”
Last, but not least, twenty-three-year-old Cambridge-based artist, Cavetown takes center stage. The artist has solidified his place in the industry as one of the best voices in the DIY bedroom pop scene. Throughout the show, his catchy heart-filled mixes of covers and original music have everyone googly-eyed in the crowd.
For the second song in the set, Cavetown admits that it’s the first time he’s about to “Fall In Love With A Girl” live. The singer-songwriter tells the crowd how nervous he is, but nerves didn’t show throughout his performance.
The slowed-down song offers a smooth transition into “Boys Will Be Bugs,” and Cavetown’s comfortability is brought back to life as he holds his guitar close and belts out the lyrics, “I just turned fourteen / And I think I know everything.”
For a brief moment, he reminded me of a young Ed Sheeran. No, it wasn’t the accent, it was the way he carried himself; this isn’t an artist that thinks that they’ve “made it” despite having so many fans, this artist carries their heart on their sleeve and wants to make sure everyone is happy. I’ve always felt like Ed Sheeran gave off the same vibe.
Mid-set, Cavetown chats briefly with the crowd before asking the venue staff to start handing out bottles of water. The moment threw me back to the time that Billie Eilish stopped mid “Ocean Eyes” to hand an almost-passed-out-fan a water bottle. Thanks to technology, the fans have been able to capture some of the most genuine and most personable moments from their favorite artists.
Cavetown, adorned with two low-hanging pigtails, finishes up “Juliet” and asks fans if he should “let it flow.” The artist is referring to his beautifully orange-red curly cues. Soon, he pulls the pigtails out, his hair drops effortlessly and the crowd starts to swoon.
In no time, Cavetown moves into his next performance with a small backstory of how his favorite T.V. show is “Adventure Time,” and within that show is the song “I Remember You.” For those on TikTok, you may recognize the name from the current trend where users, many of which are women, take the song’s lyrics, ‘that must be so confusing for a little girl’ to detail their confusing experiences as a young child. For example, some users will mention not being able to relate to Disney princesses, being told about mental health, or not being well educated about sexuality.
The artist is quick to move between songs, sometimes one leading directly into the next. In the final minutes of the setlist, Cavetown settles in on “Sweet Tooth,” a song about that one person that you just can’t help but like, but they never say they like you back.
At the end of the song a fan yells out, “I like you,” and on the other side of the room someone screams “say it back.” A cute fan moment to sum up a breathtaking performance by Cavetown.
His well-known singles, “Devil Town,” and “This Is Home” are the last to wrap up the set and are just two examples of his self-produced songs born and bred out of his bedroom. It’s no surprise that the artist has more than one billion global streams to date.
Being based in Cambridge, England and selling out a show from all the way across the world in Buffalo, NY, I think it’s safe to say that Cavetown is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry and is always welcome back with open arms.
Here’s a look at some of the setlist from Cavetown last night:
- “Fool”
- “Fall In Love With A Girl (FEAT. BEABADOOBEE)”
- “Boys Will Be Bugs”
- “Guilty”
- “Frog” [Unreleased]
- “Lemon Boy”
- “Green”
- “Feb 14”
- “Juliet”
- Cover of “Remember You” [From T.V. Show Adventure Time]
- “Ur Gonna Wish You Believed Me”
- Smoke Signals Ft. Tessa Violet
- “Sharpener.”
- “Sweet Tooth”
- “Hug All Ur Friends”
- “This Is Home”
- “Devil Town”