Crowd carries BORNS at Riverside

GM Powell, Music Director • January 27, 2018

Photo by Helen Dudley

Garrett Clark Borns, known better as BORNS, first visited Milwaukee in 2013, playing Summerfest’s Emerging Artist Stage. Since then, it seems, the Michigan-born musician has gained quite the engaged fanbase.

Last night, before his set even started, the audience made enough noise to trick the unassuming ear that the artist had arrived onstage.

At one point, cheers of, “Garrett, Garrett, Garrett!” rippled through the crowd like a verbal wave.

When the artist finally took the stage, it became clear to anyone who had followed his music that BORNS was playing his newest album, “Blue Madonna,” front to back.

This was an interesting strategy, one that is rarely used outside of 10-year anniversary tours of incredibly popular albums.

The performance itself lacked the charisma of BORNS’ tours following his 2015 release, “Dopamine.” He strutted around the stage, knowing the audience would scream with his every move. This is in contrast with his earlier tours, during which he wielded a guitar for the majority of the show.

I would have liked to see BORNS’ voice featured more prominently. At times, he seemed buried under heavy synths and backing vocals.

The majority of the audience, it is worth mentioning, did not have the same qualms as me. Every move and song prompted high-pitched and prolonged screaming. I’ve never been to a show at which the audience sang so loudly to every song that the band was drowned out at times.

Following in the mold of unusual concert procedure, BORNS and his band went on to have an encore that lasted six songs. That is entirely unheard of and uncalled for in my opinion. Encore sets are to be three songs maximum. Stick to that.

Overall, BORNS was an entertaining concert. I would have loved to hear more from him and less from the screaming girls in the crowd, but I will definitely be returning if he comes back to Milwaukee.