Japanese Breakfast leader Michelle Zauner has been having a huge year, including the release of the band's third album Jubilee in June; her memoir, Crying in H Mart, in April (which was also acquired for a film adaptation); and Sable, the video game she soundtracked, in September. Midway through Thursday night's (10/14) show at Brooklyn Steel, the first of four sold out nights Japanese Breakfast are playing at the venue, she reflected on their rise, reminisced on when they were opening for Slowdive on the same stage in 2017 and saying, "I keep waiting for our moment to dim, but it hasn't."
It's definitely hard to imagine Japanese Breakfast in a support slot at the moment; they've always been good live, but they're truly firing on all cylinders now, a few months into their current tour. From the first song of the night, "Paprika," where Michelle gleefully bounced around the stage, pausing only to hit a gong, they had the crowd in the palm of their hands. While most of the set focused on Jubilee, they included plenty of older favorites too, including "Road Head," "Boyish," "The Body is a Blade," and an incredibly poignant rendition of "Till Death." A pulsing, hypnotic light show added depth, especially to songs like "Posing for Cars," with its extended, shoegazey closing jam, and had people grooving along.