My inner 14-year-old felt healed at the Roadrunner in Brighton. Bleachers, the indie pop group fronted by producer-musician Jack Antonoff (who has worked with Taylor Swift, Lorde, and Lana Del Rey, among others), performed night one of their exclusive shows dedicated to their first two albums. Night one was dedicated to their 2014 debut Strange Desire, the album that catapulted them into mainstream success through singles like “I Wanna Get Better” and “Rollercoaster.” The LP, alongside other mid-2010 albums like Swift’s 1989 and Carly Rae Jepsen’s Emotion, ushered in an era of 1980s-inspired synth pop that set the stage for Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, Paramore’s After Laughter and The Weeknd’s Dawn FM. Close to a decade after its release, Strange Desires remains one of my favorites of all time; I got to relive that era — sans braces this time — for the first time live.

The show opened with indie rock band Charly Bliss, who cite their inspirations on their Spotify as Weezer and Veruca Salt. The heart of the band is lead singer Eva Hendricks, who brought all the energy into their relatively short set.

Bleachers came on a while later (after my sister and I played several rounds of Concentration 64 and I Spy), starting with none other than “Wild Heart.” The crowd immediately screamed along to every word as Antonoff, who impressively played guitar nearly the whole show, jumped around the stage, making sure to engage every part of the audience. “Wild Heart” being one of my favorite Bleachers songs, it was surreal to hear it live for my first time 8 years after its initial release. Even though I was having a blast, it did spiral me into an existential crisis a bit. It feels like so much about my life has changed over the years, but Bleachers has been such a consistent and transformative presence in my teenage and early adult years.

They then followed the chronological order of the album, transitioning into another of their other smash successes and one of my personal favorites, “Rollercoaster.” Antonoff and the band unsurprisingly brought all of the energy and stage presence the upbeat track deserves. They did not disappoint in replicating — and even outdoing — the sound of the original album.

Their third song, “Shadow,” has always been a source of comfort for me. Hearing the audience scream, “If you’re feeling small / I will love your shadow” felt like a warm hug. Their first single and biggest hit, “I Wanna Get Better,” came next, and it exceeded my expectations. Though everyone was already full of energy, this performance made the entire venue jump up and yell out every lyric in small huddles with their friends, family, and loved ones. Hearing the lines “I chase the feeling of an 18-year-old who didn’t know what loss was / Now I’m a stranger” made me again reflect on how much time has flown since I was 14, listening to those same lyrics, not fully understanding them at the time but now resonating deeply with them. The band and the audience played off each other’s energy, everyone collectively excited about the same songs and moments.

After the performance, Antonoff talked with the crowd about how many artists hate their most popular song and don’t like performing it, but he still loves “I Wanna Get Better.” He went on to talk about the importance of Strange Desire, and as much as the album marked a monumental moment in his career, it became equally impactful on my life and was one of the first albums that really got me into music. Hearing the album so many years later with my sister transported me back to our shared bedroom in 2014. And although we now have our own bedrooms, we still listen to Bleachers together today. Despite the more emotional tone of this conversation, he managed to keep things light by talking about MILFs, reading fans’ posters and introducing all of the band members.

Bleachers played many of the night’s songs for the first time since 2015, including “Take Me Away,” “Like a River Runs” and “Who I Want You to Love.” And following their promise to perform Strange Desire in its entirety, they performed “I’m Ready to Move on / Wild Heart” for the first time ever, with his electric guitarist Mikey Freedom Hart singing Yoko Ono’s part.

Once the Strange Desire set concluded, they transitioned into playing five bonus songs, most of which came from their 2021 album Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night. The second part of the set kicked off with “How Dare You Want More,” which was a big crowd pleaser — especially Evan White’s sax solo. While the band’s instrumentals never fail to impress me, the performance really showcased each performer’s talents, with the standouts for me being White and drummer Sean Hutchinson.

They continued with “Alfie’s Song (Not So Typical Love Song)” from the Love, Simon movie soundtrack (which also featured several songs by Bleachers and Antonoff). I was thankful he played “Chinatown,” the ‘80s soft rock collaboration with ‘80s soft rock legend himself Bruce Springsteen (performed without Springsteen, unfortunately). The penultimate song was from the 2015 movie Hello, My Name is Doris, which was originally called “Dance Rascal Dance” and is now called “Margo.” The closing song “Stop Making This Hurt,” also off “Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night,” was the perfect way to close off such a nostalgic and high energy night.

While I was half-expecting the brand new Roadrunner venue to be reminiscent of Fyre Festival, I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly the show ran and how finished the interior was. The arena holds 3,500 people and is all general admission, with a floor and an upper balcony. Despite it being my first general admission experience (I’m just shy of 5’3, may I add), I situated myself in between the masses of heads and found an opening where I could see the action. With several Boston music venues like The Channel closing during the pandemic, The Roadrunner is certainly a much-needed addition, perfect for artists verging on mainstream success. The venue offers the perfect combination of intimacy and space: there were enough people that it was fun, but not so many people it felt crowded.

Night two of the Boston exclusive shows took place on Saturday, March 25, also at the Roadrunner. They performed their 2017 sophomore album Gone Now, featuring hits like “Don’t Take The Money” (surprise! another one of my favorites), “Let’s Get Married” and “Goodmorning.” The band will also kick off their 2022 tour in May, featuring openers like beabadoobee and Wolf Alice.

Living My 2014 Dreams at Bleacher's Brighton Performance