Japanese Breakfast, Bully and More Crank It Up at Outloud

Two songs into Bully’s set, singer Alicia Bognanno spoke coyly into the mic: “I have something to tell you guys, but I’m gonna wait until later to tell you.” 

The band was a last-minute addition to Outloud Music Fest’s bill on Friday, the first of its two-night run at the Main Event Parking Lot near Nissan Stadium. Fellow local rockers Soccer Mommy had to cancel, so Bognanno & Co. — Joey Howard on bass, Chappy Hull on guitar and Wes Mitchell on drums — took the stage to play, for the first time in public, songs from the stellar rock outfit’s 2020 release Sugaregg. The band blazed through “Where to Start,” “Every Tradition,” “Add It On” and “Let You,” as well as old favorites like “I Remember.” 

Only toward the end of the set did Bognanno come clean with the band’s secret. Laughing, she admitted, “Joey learned all these songs last night, and Chappy learned five songs last night, and this is our first time playing together.”

While the set wasn’t as airtight as a typical Bully performance — understandably — it was still electrifying. Outloud, featuring its stacked bill of LGBTQ artists and allies, was the first dose of in-person live music for many of us in the audience too. It’s been more than a year since we’ve gathered together to breathe in the clouds from a fog machine; to simultaneously grab our ears after an especially piercing bit of unexpected feedback; to collectively gasp when a drag queen does a backflip into the splits while dancing to a Janet Jackson song — love you, Alexia Noelle Paris. Over the weekend, we did it all, together. 

It was the first in-person show since the start of the pandemic for Friday headliner Japanese Breakfast, too. Singer Michelle Zauner made it very clear she was happy to break that seal in Nashville. She took the stage in pink cowboy boots and an oversized pink cowboy hat with delightfully gaudy crystal fringe dangling from the rim. It was release day for the pop-rock group’s new album Jubilee, and they opened with the first song “Paprika,” in which Zauner joyously asks, “How does it feel to be at the center of magic?” 

We were all at the center of magic, dancing to Jubilee’s first single “Be Sweet,” cheering on the smooth and sexy sax solo in the song “Slide Tackle.” It was especially sweet when Zauner sat down at the keyboard for a cover of Dolly Parton’s “Here You Come Again.”

“I have to say, I was so nervous to play that song, and it has a million key changes,” she said as the crowd cheered her efforts. “And I would’ve played it flawlessly, but there was a fucking spider on me. … Let me just applaud my endurance for playing a Dolly Parton song with so many key changes with a spider on me. That’s possibly the most heroic thing I’ve ever done.”

On Saturday night, the humidity crept up just a bit, and the crowd waved multicolored glow sticks in the dusk. The evening kicked off with a quartet of drag performances by Shelby La Banks, Britney Banks, Chyna and Portia Clinique. Host Coco Montrese worked the stage, warming up the dance-crazed audience, who got plenty of danceable odes to self-affirmation during the rest of the night.

Nashville singer and songwriter Manrelic played one song, which was weird and fascinating.  The stage persona of producer and performer Jared Park, Manrelic comes across like a slightly affectless Bowie clone, and you could also hear unmistakable hints of the influence of Prince during his brief turn. What was weird — and cool — about Manrelic’s shtick was the way he let his prerecorded music simply surge on while he switched from keyboards to guitar. He took a nice Prince-like solo, and his music came across, in the limited sample we got, as both pop and something more eccentric. 

If you want to talk about creative eccentricity, Tank and the Bangas shook up any expectations you might have had about a modern funk band from New Orleans. The group, which was augmented Saturday by two saxophonists (one also played flute) and two backup singers, defies category in a very specific way. Their approach definitely derives from, say, The Meters and The Wild Magnolias, and there were also elements of jazzy ’70s music on the order of Earth, Wind & Fire. 

Still, Tank and the Bangas — led by the overwhelming stage presence of singer Tarriona Ball — are, indeed, something else. They went from jazz-fusion-prog interludes to stomping funk-disco workouts, while Ball rapped and sang in a childlike voice that often seemed positively atavistic. Their songs rolled through stages of intense funk rhythms, and the music only hinted at chaos. 

Tank and the Bangas got the crowd up on its feet. After that, Freak Daddy, whose time slot was also among those that allowed for only one song, and Todrick Hall — who proved himself an expert post-rap-disco stage artist — both seemed anticlimactic. Hall performed several odes to himself and celebrity culture, and the beats were as arresting as the onstage dance routines. His self-regard felt a little canned, but that may have been the point. 

The proliferation of livestreams during the past year has reaffirmed how much it means — to artists and fans alike — to share the experience of music any way they can. The thrill that comes from being able to enjoy shows in-person with a crowd again is well worth the wait.

See our slideshow for more photos.