After playing a handful of guerrilla-style pop-up shows in anticipation of their new studio album, NEVER ENOUGH, Turnstile flipped Brooklyn’s “Under the K Bridge Park” underpass into an adrenaline-fueled collision of sound and bodies as they ripped through a 24-song set on Thursday night (June 5th).
The outdoor show opened with dreamy lead single “NEVER ENOUGH,” as fans shouted lyrics into the air while the band took their positions on stage. When the first riffs broke out, a retro-toned rainbow flag dropped behind the band, sending the crowd surging in every direction and some fans spilling over the barricade. Lead singer Brendan Yates floated about the stage with what can only be described as a mix of jumpstyle and hardstyle dance moves, thrusting the mic stand into the air and jumping sporadically to the rhythm.
With their new album only hours away from dropping, the band played a mix of songs off of previous LPs and brand-new tracks from NEVER ENOUGH. While some have seen Turnstile’s divergence into a more melodic space as an abandonment of the hardcore principles they stood upon for a majority of their career, the energy in the space proved that hardcore is alive and well in their community.
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Older, heavier singles like “Keep It Moving” garnered the same reaction from the crowd as newer, softer singles like “I CARE”. Even with a barricade and security to keep the room from getting too wild, I caught a handful of stage divers making their way onto the stage and back into the crowd (one guy via a front flip). And from a higher vantage point, you could see the crowd flare and fade to each song as mosh pits formed throughout the venue.
The highlight of the set came during “SEEIN’ STARS.” The lights dimmed to a light blue and Yates began to sing the opening verse. About a minute in, Yates suddenly exclaimed “HAYLEY!” and Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams strutted onstage to sing the song. Williams has been a long time supporter of Turnstile, even appearing on the studio version of “SEEIN’ STARS,” so it was an incredibly special moment on the precipice of NEVER ENOUGH’s release.
With the energy at a boiling point, the band ended the evening with the new hardcore anthem “BIRDS,” and the place exploded with one last wave of energetic moshing. While Turnstile continue to move into a gentler sonic landscape, their ability to mesh hardcore ethos with calmer sounds has pushed them into a space that finds them drawing mainstream-sized crowds without losing their grassroots energy.
See a photo gallery, fan-filmed video footage, and the setlist from Turnstile’s Brooklyn show below. Catch Turnstile on a UK/European tour of headlining dates and festivals throughout June, as well as North American festival appearances at Ottawa Blues Fest in July, and the Aftershock (Sacramento) and III Points (Miami) festivals in October.
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Setlist:
NEVER ENOUGH
T.L.C. (TURNSTILE LOVE CONNECTION)
ENDLESS
Come Back for More / Fazed Out
7
Keep It Moving
Pushing Me Away
FLY AGAIN
I CARE
DULL
DON’T PLAY
Real Thing
Big Smile
Drop
Interlude
UNDERWATER BOI
HOLIDAY
ALIEN LOVE CALL
LOOK OUT FOR ME (live debut)
Encore:
MYSTERY
BLACKOUT
SEEIN’ STARS(with Hayley Williams)
BIRDS
