Jordan Rakei serenades The Foundry on first US tour

Copyright Dylan Eddinger Photography

I thought I'd change things up a little bit, so I went to indie R&B artist Jordan Rakei's show at The Foundry last night. I went in completely blind - I'd never even heard of him before, and I hadn't listened to any of his music to prepare. Looking back, I think that was the right move. And, not only was this show Rakei's first time in Philly, but this is his first US tour! Once I learned that, I was awed for the rest of the night.

If I had to use one word to describe Rakei, it would be smooth. Every second of his set was flawless, with genres seamlessly crossing over one another with each song. It was so cool. He's a difficult artist to place in one category, because at some points, his soundscape was almost symphonic, mixed with punchy R&B samples. Then in the next song, the rhythm section would have this overwhelming jazz presence, with the lyrics undeniably planting their roots in the indie genre. Rakei is all over the place in the best way. He's the definition of diverse. 

The setlist included lots of tracks off of his 2017 release, Wallflower, as well as old hits from Cloak. He even gifted us with the first song he ever wrote, which was nothing shy of fantastic. 

One thing that I noticed throughout the whole show was that Rakei is extremely grateful to the musicians he shares the stage with. He stopped between songs frequently to introduce his band, and once he mentioned that the bassist had joined the tour two days ago and was killing it, the crowd went wild for "Eric!!!" It just goes to show that nothing is ever a one-man show, even though we were all there for one guy. We left with a new sense of appreciation for what goes on in the background.

Rake is continuing his northeast tour in Massachusetts before making his way up to Canada later this month. He's not one to miss, and I'm definitely happy I stepped out of my genre-comfort zone and spent the night at an R&B/alt/indie/jazz show. I think you will be, too. 

Copyright Dylan Eddinger Photography