Experimental-pop darlings, Japanese Breakfast, came into Atlanta with something to prove. Jamming to a capacity-crammed Heaven Stage at Atlanta’s iconic venue, The Masquerade, the Michelle Zauner-led outfit came in to ease the tensions of performing behind closed doors in the ongoing age of Covid, play some amazing live music and melt some faces. For all intents and purposes, the band pretty much nailed the mission at hand.
On stage, Japanese Breakfast presents a casually elegant vibe. Stripped of all the fanfare and peculiar antics of those high-budgeted stadium shindigs, Japanese Breakfast mainly relies on superior musicianship, an array of instruments — that include the gong — and some bottomless charisma that Zauner exudes in order to muster all the love they can get from their faithfuls on hand. The end result is a lofty 90-some minutes of enchanting tunes and witnessing another step to the ongoing metamorphic evolution of Zauner from star to superstar.
Bottom line, Japanese Breakfast simply puts on a worthwhile experience. From performing their better known hits down to their lesser known should-be hits, these Oregon-based badasses deliver a giant bag of stage presence laced with cosmic poetry in the form top-notch heavenly melodies. It is now 2021 and Japanese Breakfast is no longer a band to watch; they are now a band any sane audiophile simply cannot miss. Plenty of upcoming dates left. Buy that ticket, check them out, thank us later.
LoudSound Magazine 