“It’s been two years, can you believe it?” Addressing their fans from the bottom of their hearts, indie duo joan rounded up their wave tour on the 2 April still in disbelief that the pandemic had stolen away an integral part of music-makers-and-lovers’ joy — concerts. 

Held at the Bowery Ballroom in New York, joan made fans’ nights ‘something special’ with an immensely snug and cosy show. With the US lifting restrictions for shows, the intimate visual of fans drumming their fingers on the stage itself to the beat of each song was ever-present throughout the concert. 

Presented by Flymachine, a new virtual venue for live entertainment, international fans were also able to tune in all over the world via livestream to catch members Alan Benjamin Thomas and Steven Rutherfold perform their most popular hits, making the tour’s last show one that brought artist and fan together through music, despite the distance. 

Kicking off the show with the band’s 2021 single ‘so good’, frontman Alan got the crowd grooving to the cheery confession track, an apt and chill opening to the show. The audience proved to be as thrilled as the duo and echoed the bridge of the next song, ‘something special’, thunderously in a fun call-and-response initiated by the musicians themselves. 

Introducing the third song off their setlist as a “damn good [song] to [dance] to”, joan allowed audiences a peek into their musical dexterity (which they would continue to show off later on) as Alan swiftly hopped on a drum pad while he wasn’t on the mic during the funky dance track ‘come over’. The heavy interactivity that came with audiences being able to witness joan flaunting their familiarity with the layers of their music seemed almost familiar and private as if a hundreds-strong flock of houseguests were transported to the ‘stop and stare’ act’s studio itself. 

More than connecting with their fans through the performance and across screens, the Arkansas-based musicians were also clearly very much in their own bubble with their admiration for music (in a good way!). Having clearly infused the nostalgic sound of ‘90s R&B into their music, the show felt more personal to watch, after having realised that this was the same musical flavour that brought joan to discover their own love for music. 

Seamlessly transitioning to the vibrant and longing-filled release ‘one more touch’, acoustic guitars were swapped out for electric ones, fuelling a masterful control over the atmosphere of the two-storeyed venue. Even across the livestream, joan turned the crowd into their marionettes, hanging upon the duo’s intuitive changes in pace. From the tension build-up in the form of a 5-second long silence to finally crescendoing the song with a striking guitar solo, Alan and Steven successfully immersed themselves and the audiences into the just-shy-of-an-hour-and-a-half show with the song. 

Following with ‘all the way’ and ‘ease your mind’ — clear crowd-favourites, the silhouetted musical acts had the audiences in a flurry of activity, some with their hands thrown up and others swaying to the light-hearted tracks. Perhaps with the ambience and sound system of Bowery Ballroom, it might not have been as evident, but through the livestream, it sounded as if the crowd were almost as audible as the musicians themselves. 

Steadily heightening the audience interaction, fans picked up Alan's cues perfectly as he took a step back during ‘tokyo’ and had them sing the chorus with a resounding voice for him. For ‘want u back’, “virtual joan” most definitely stole the show. Picturing multiple “joans” on the 3 LED screens behind them. Virtual joan played the keys, the tambourine, the guitar, and even busted out some debatably hip dance moves, begging the question — “When are they going to have their own concert?”. 

After inviting fans to “just [chill] out”, joan progressed into their slower songs including “not over u”, “cover girl”, and “waiting on nothing”. Though it would have been undoubtedly difficult to drop the pace with this selection of songs before bringing it back up with “don’t say you love me”, the alt-pop duo strategically planted segments to clap and sing along to, keeping fans engaged to the tee. 

Possibly the most impressive occurrence of the night was when Alan and Steven promptly switched places in the last 20 seconds of their latest album’s track ‘right back’, featuring Steven crooning away at centre stage and Alan jamming away at the drums. If that doesn’t prove their innate musical talents and versatility as a two-person band, we’re not sure what does. Continuing with Steven on the mic, the ‘take me on’ singers astounded the crowd with the earnest ballad of ‘magnetic’. 

With their limitless stamina and passionate drive, audiences kept their spirits high till the last song of the show ‘drive all night’ and not even 2 seconds later, charged forward with cries for an encore. Presenting ‘i loved you so’, much to my personal disappointment due to anticipation for the band to lead the audiences to greater highs during this segment, the energy still continued to pick up with ‘love somebody like you’. 

By taking on more positions and instruments than I would have expected a duo to, the final show of the wave tour was a perfect showcase of their musical aptitude and allowed for flexibility in the way they chose to present their hits to the crowd. Even when restricted to their positioned mics and playing their respective instruments, there wasn’t great expectation for crowd work yet to my surprise, the youthful pair were able to keep the crowd upbeat, making for a naturally interactive show. 

Ending with their final comment of how “special” the night was and “meant to [them]”, joan concluded with ‘so done’, urging the crowd to “jump!” with an adorably eye-catching graphic onscreen. A true rising force to be reckoned with, the indie pop duo showed the world that they are indeed making ‘wave’s in the underground circle and are due to break the surface of the mainstream industry’s waters anytime now.