Photos by Megan Hirao
I have never been a huge Alex G fan. I listen to his music, but I have always been deterred from fully submerging myself into his lore because… Alex G fans are something. Thus, upon hearing that KSDT got press approval for his San Diego show, I approached the news with the preconceived notion that Alex G fans are predominantly white men who mansplain how to play “Mary” on the guitar, so yes, I was excited but wary, to say the least.
Initially, this show was supposed to be held at Rady Shell, but what happened to that? I am not sure, but being moved to The Sound unlocked a new map for Megan and me. Walking into the venue, we were greeted by security that did not know the camera policy, a line that was very easy to cut, and a scene of emos, high schoolers, and, as mentioned before…white men…many of them. The venue itself was very confusing, with at least 4 different concierge stands, food areas, and sections that were a gamble between ADA and VIP seating – I was super overstimulated.
As I got used to the interesting building, intelligibly speaking, I was hit with beautiful scream fries from the opening act, Agriculture. They were loud, queer, and placed the Palestinian flag on stage throughout their set. What was there not to love about them? One thing about Alex G that I admired before this concert was his diverse love for his openers, from Kevin Abstract to Agriculture. Alex G knows his music, and he is not constrained to genres. I am not too familiar with Agriculture, so their songs were definitely a bit of a shock to me, not their screaming, but the fact that each song would have a couple of moments where I’d think the track was finished, but they would keep going. Not a complaint, not necessarily a praise, more of a confusion. Regardless, I loved their monologues advocating for queer voices to be heard and their stage presence.
After the band left the stage, Megan departed from me to get ready for photos, and that was mistake 1 because, remember those white men I was complaining about? One of them was talking to me, and these white boys really can’t take a hint. In whatever duration he was talking to me, I gathered that he had seen Alex G 5+ times, he drove from Arizona for this show, he is not gay, he has mixed views on abortion, and he wants to be my friend… The conversation felt like it stripped away 10 years of my life, but fortunately, Alex Sandy G felt my frustrations, the lights dimmed, and he came onto the stage. Now I know I said that I was/am not the biggest Alex G fan, but his set was genuinely one of the best live performances I have ever seen. It is so evident that he loves to play music, he loves his fans, and he loves to try new things/have fun.
Just as an observer of the crowd, of course, there was an overwhelming stench of B.O. (ironically stronger than the barricade, according to my friend who was literally barricaded) and a lot of crying. Hearing Alex G’s discography live was an experience I would recommend to any and everyone because with how musically inclined he is, the live harmonies, and super beautiful lights (shoutout Amy), everything about it was otherworldly. Back to the lights, I could not help but see the hues of blues, greens, and flickering purple during performances of songs like “Headlights” and be reminded of I Saw the TV Glow, which Alex G scored, so it felt like a nice little homage, even if unintentional. Moving on, at every show, Alex G finds a way to troll the crowd, and this time he asked if it was anyone’s birthday, to which the lucky birthday person who raised their hand received a PlayStation… which is not a common occurrence, but an awesome one to witness. After this interaction, Alex G would usually play a cover, which was presumably “Superman” by Five for Fighting. I was personally hoping for “Head in the Ceiling Fan” by Title Fight, but it was neither. Instead, he did something better and improvised a song about San Diego, a city corrupted by people who do not care for schools, and finished off this little improvisation with screaming and angst.
Before the concert, I knew I was ready and excited for tracks like “June Guitar,” “Runner,” and “Kicker,” but I was literally knocked out of my shoes when I heard “Immunity” live. Alex G knows exactly how to take the studio versions of his songs and transform them live to create a whole new experience for the audience, and it genuinely felt as euphoric as hearing some of these tracks for the first time again. Like “Beam Me Up” and “Southern Sky” actually had me tearing up. Now the real kicker ;) is the encore. I feel like it’s common knowledge that an encore is 2-3 songs… not with Alexander Sandy Giannascoli, this Italian man played EIGHT WHOLE SONGS. In this encore, he also gave a name-by-name shoutout to his entire touring team, which I really admired. By the end of the night and even until now, I still reminisce about that beautiful 2-hour set. Thank you, Sandy.
A gallery of photos from the evening:
