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Japanese Breakfast, the music project of Philly-based songwriter Michelle Zauner, performed at Asbury Lanes on Friday, December 28th. This was the first show of their 4-night stint to finish out 2018 (they’re following-up this show with 3-nights straight at Johnny Brenda’s in Philly). Gabby’s World, the songwriting and production project of Gabrielle Smith, was the opener.
While it was the band’s first performance at Asbury Lanes, Zauner made it clear that she is no stranger to Asbury Park. In 2017, she had filmed the music video for “The Body Is A Blade” along the Asbury Park boardwalk, casino, and beach. She also shared that the same beach was where she first saw the naked butt of her then-boyfriend/now-husband as he frolicked into the ocean (FYI, that butt belongs to none other than Peter Bradley who plays guitar and keyboards in the band). Japanese Breakfast started off the night with an upbeat one-two punch of “12 Steps” and “Everybody Wants to Love You”. While mostly playing through selections from 2017’s Soft Sounds from Another Planet and their Psychopomp debut LP, they also had some surprises in store. Officially released this past September as part of Polyvinyl’s 4-track Singles Series, they performed “2042” – I thought I heard her mention that this song is actually about “space”, but I just might be making that up. They also performed a cover of Tears for Fears’ “Head Over Heels” – it would’ve totally made sense for them to continue in their already established “everybody wants to” direction and cover “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” instead, but I guess they decided that would be too obvious (or maybe they just like “Head Over Heels” better). They also played a cover of The Flaming Lips’ “Race For The Prize” during their encore.
Halfway through their set, the band was joined on stage by Gabrielle Smith (of Gabby’s World) for 2 songs. During this time, Zauner shared some behind the scenes anecdotes about a previous tour that the 2 had been on together – in particular, she mentioned the different robber strategies that were employed during rounds of playing The Settlers of Catan. Some truly rock star stuff, indeed.
See the full setlist below and keep scrolling to see more photos from the show.
Japanese Breakfast Setlist:
– 12 Steps
– Everybody Wants to Love You
– In Heaven
– The Woman That Loves You
– Road Head
– 2042
– Heft
– The Body Is a Blade
– Boyish
– Till Death
– This House
– Triple 7 w/ Gabrielle Smith
– Head Over Heels w/ Gabrielle Smith (Tears for Fears cover)
– Jane Cum
– Diving Woman
Encore
– Race For The Prize (The Flaming Lips cover)
– Machinist
