DJ Afrosheen at The East Room, 12/31/2023
Nashville usually rings in the new year the only way it knows how: with live music. The tradition continued as 2023 drew to a close. Beyond the annual televised pop-country bash downtown — which this time began with a lamentably short hip-hop celebration that didn’t get broadcast — nearly every venue packs a bill with local bands and invites the crowds to rock into the next year together. To give 2023 a proper goodbye, the crew at The East Room, a mainstay for a wide array of folks (especially artists on the rise) for more than a decade, put together the New Year’s East celebration featuring an expansive bill of Nashvillians.
First up was rocker RobinAugust with a high-energy set of hard-hitting originals. The general angst and the subject matter of many of the songs made it not much of a surprise to learn that the singer-guitarist — who’s recently been studying at Berklee College of Music — wrote them in her mid-teens. But that’s certainly not a bad thing: She articulates the challenges of being that age, a skill she and her bandmates in exceptional and now-defunct group Queens of Noise honed to a fine edge as high schoolers.
RobinAugust at The East Room, 12/31/2023
RobinAugust continues the tradition of matching her passionate lyricism with expert instrumentation; her current band also sounds like they’ve been doing this for years. And onstage, she is Cherie Currie incarnate, from her costumes to her ferocious delivery. Highlights of the set included the riff-loaded “Ghost,” set opener “Space to Breathe,” and a pair of new songs with vocal delivery reminiscent of Lana Del Rey. With flawless vocal technique and timeless rock ’n’ roll energy, RobinAugust set the night off on a great start.
WildLove at The East Room, 12/31/2023
The second act of the evening was the duo WildLove, aka guitarist Mike Crecca and Ireland-born vocalist Brandon Gorman. Along with their backing band, the pair ripped through original surf-rock-infused songs reminiscent of Vampire Weekend. Perhaps their greatest triumph, though, was their party-ready covers. If you’ve ever wanted a shirtless Irish man to serenade you with “Year 3000” — originally recorded by the British band Busted, popularized here by a Jonas Brothers cover circa 2007 — you were in luck! The band was tight and came ready to rock in a way that made the venue feel three times its size.
Casper Sage at The East Room, 12/31/2023
Just when you might wonder “How can anyone follow that,” Casper Sage came in clutch by switching up the vibe entirely. With self-aware lyrics and silky smooth vocals, Sage led the crowd on a journey through his chill flavor of R&B-infused rap. From his opener “Spinning” to a perfect Dijon cover, Sage knew exactly how to put the crowd in their feelings as the year wound down. Sage might’ve branded his set as “emotional terror,” but it was a perfect segue into the rest of the night.
girlhouse at The East Room, 12/31/2023
The final band on the roster was girlhouse, the musical project of Nashville transplant Lauren Luiz. The tunes fell somewhere between indie rock and bedroom pop, à la Beach Bunny and Clairo’s early work. Every song was aptly titled — “Cool Guy” was about a cool guy, “Happy Now” asked horrible exes about whether they were happy now, and so on — and the crowd danced along with glee.
DJ Afrosheen rounded out the night and took us into 2024 with a fantastic set. Hearing “Pump Up the Jam” segue into “Funkytown” produced more serotonin for me than just about anything else in 2023. Putting a perfect cap on another crazy year, midnight arrived in a burst of confetti from a DIY rig concocted from a Home Depot bucket and a leaf blower — shoutout to musician and East Room talent booker and general manager Taylor Cole! — soundtracked to Queen Bey’s “Break My Soul.”
The Spin: New Year's East at The East Room, 12/31/2023
With girlhouse, RobinAugust, Casper Sage, WildLove and DJ Afrosheen
girlhouse at The East Room, 12/31/2023
