Japanese Breakfast bring their dreamy lo-fi diaries to The Roxy

It was so hard to stay away from the Japanese Breakfast concert at White Oak Music Hall that took place during my time back in Houston. If there's an artist in town and I have the opportunity to shoot them, I usually can't say no. But patience is a virtue and I knew just a short time later I'd get to photograph their Los Angeles stop at The Roxy.

Sandwiched between their weekends at Coachella, Japanese Breakfast's Michelle Zauner brought her dreamy, lo-fi indie rock with diary-like lyrics to a sold out crowd. She warned she doesn't get to talk much at Coachella and she intended on making up for it. I doubt anyone minded. Zauner managed to make her between-song banter feel like stand up comedy; a little self deprecating, a little dirty, and constantly circling back to a couple themes - in this case, her love of celebrity sitings and a case of acid reflux brought on by too many chicken wings from Night + Market Song (a stop she made under the recommendation of Khruangbin's Laura Lee). The humor was a nice reprieve from the vulnerability expressed in the songs.

In the middle of the set, the crowd hushed and some of the band left the stage for a series of quieter songs culminating with the crushing "This House". The melancholy vibe didn't last, though; the night ended with a full blown dance party to "Everybody Wants to Love You" with Nathan of And And Andlending vocals.

Coverage by Kirby Gladstein

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