“Just make me feel special, and make me feel loved; make me feel something, lately life’s made me numb.”

For the past three months, alternative R&B artist Gnash has toured from Mo. to Calif. as an opener for the pop punk band All Time Low on their tour. Gnash, known for popular songs “Feelings Fade,” and “i hate u, i love u,” finished his portion of the tour in October to begin his own tour.

On Jan. 30, 2019, “The Broken Hearts Club Tour” made its way to the Bluebird Theater in Denver. Opening artists of the show included alternative artist Guardin and indie pop singer Mallrat.

About ten minutes before the show, headliner Gnash wandered past the crowd of people waiting for the doors to open at 7:00 PM. All he said was, “Hey guys, hope you’re having a great night.” Many people just stood in awe and stared as he disappeared down the block, nobody followed. Senior Riley Davis was one of the lucky concert-goers he spoke to. “I wanted to cry tears of joy,” Davis said. “I really admire Gnash.”

A few months previous, Davis attended a show in Las Vegas where Gnash played as an opening act for the band All Time Low. “[This time] there were a lot more people around me who could relate to his music,” Davis said. “Whereas at the All Time Low concert, I knew all the words and I kind of felt like we were singing alone.”

Junior Zoe Conradt, however, attended her first Gnash show this past Wednesday. “I was expecting pretty much what I got. Except that he’s a lot happier than [what] he puts out [in] his music,” Conradt said. “It’s meant for breakups, but he’s so happy and so energetic.”

In my opinion, the two openers were not only very different from Gnash himself, but also from each other. The first opener, Guardin, was very alternative and had an edge to his music while Mallrat was very soft and calm. Mallrat had sort of a house-trap kind of sound to her songs possibly because of the DJ she brought along on tour with her, DJ Denim. My overall favorite part of the concert was when Guardin performed my favorite song, “I Think You’re Really Cool.”

Between the two opening sets and Gnash’s set, songs by The Beatles blasted through the Bluebird Theater. As I looked around, I could see many people around me dancing and shouting the lyrics. With the end of every Beatles song, the anticipation in the crowd grew as they expected Gnash to run out. The moment finally came when his drummer and keyboardist appeared onstage. “Imagine if” was the first song he performed.

The general vibe of the show couldn’t be summed up in one word. “The vibe was everywhere,” junior Bonnie Wann said. “[It was] sad, happy, heart warming, many things.” Gnash’s music is typically written about sadness and heartbreak. However on his new album, a couple of the songs are written about his current love life and the happiness he feels in life.  “I feel like a lot of his songs are about people leaving his life. Sometimes they’re breakups, sometimes they’re friends.” Davis said.

Overall, I feel that Gnash’s work could be described as a cocktail of different vibes. Happy, sad, chill, exciting, and numbing. Throughout the show he would stop songs just so he could ask the audience to smile for him. He just wants to make us smile, and that’s exactly what he does.

“Tell me it’s okay, to be happy now.”

“Tell me it’s okay, because I’m happy now”