Night Lovell and Haarper playing the same show already felt like someone stacked the deck in any fan’s favour. Then I saw MUDRAT was opening, and honestly, that was the part I was most curious about. I have been trying to catch them live for ages.
MUDRAT didn’t waste time. No big entrance, no drawn-out intro. They just started talking, and the room listened so intently. It’s refreshing catching an artist who’ll look you in the eye and talk about the stuff that might make people uncomfortable: wealth hoarding, the performance of philanthropy. It’s not posturing. It feels completely necessary right now. The band was locked in, and before long there was a pit forming, which is not what you expect in most opening sets. The fact that MUDRAT and co. have helped funnel thousands into Palestinian aid also isn’t background noise. It sits inside the music and gives it a backbone.
When Haarper jumped out, Liberty Hall had turned into that good kind of churn where you’re moving whether you mean to or not. His sound is built for exactly that: bass that sits in your chest, everything teetering on the edge of control, seccys exchanging glances of anxiety. The crowd didn’t need convincing. It’s aggressive music, sure, but there’s this clear playfulness underneath it all, and people fed off it.
Then Night Lovell took the stage, and the energy didn’t explode so much as it deepened, so deep. He’s got a way of commanding a room without trying to dominate it. Most of the set leaned on the tracks that first put him on people’s radars, the ones that still hit hardest. He was only just opening for the Greyday 2025 North America tour, but here he wasn’t the supporting act. This was his room. The lighting kept him mostly in silhouette, backlit for most of the performance, which only added to the atmosphere. You didn’t need to see his face to feel the weight of it all.
The crowd didn’t thrash so much as pulse, riding each beat as it came. Three very different artists, and it all fit together so graciously. Mudrat laid the foundation, Haarper stirred everything up, and Night Lovell closed it out with that intensity he’s made his signature.
