By Gretchen Hartenstein & James Kelly | Jan. 4, 2024
Stephen has been on my concert bucket list from the moment I discovered he was touring with his debut album, Angel Face, which was released late September of 2023. Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to attend his show at XL Live in Harrisburg, PA at the end of November. I can only preface this by saying that it was one of the coolest and most exhilarating experiences I’ve yet had through WVUD.
Jamie and I found ourselves in a momentary state of euphoria when we were told that our names would be on Stephen’s guest list for the show… “momentary” being the key word there. Unbeknownst to us, being on an artist’s guest list does not in fact mean that you get to meet them or have any kind of personal interaction with them or their crew, a truth we learned after being put on such a list. However, the disappointment was fleeting and quickly forgotten once we arrived and realized we would be having a more intimate and up-close concert experience than we anticipated.
XL Live accommodates just over 1,000 patrons with standing room only. And while we were far from being the first ones in line, we were still able to get a spot relatively close to the barricade and off to the far left side of the stage. The room filled slowly as 8 o’clock approached. Some attendees chose to dress in classically 50’s and 60’s style garb to match the feel of being sent back in time, a feat that the Troubadour Sanchez seems to have perfected. While the setup was fairly simple, the stage had the unmistakable look of a jazz show from yesteryear. Most intriguing were the footlights that lined the front of the stage and the platforms that the drum set and keyboards were positioned on, which we later came to find would flash and change color to fit each song, but whose golden glow brought a feeling of warmth, contentment, and old-fashioned classiness to the stage. However, the poster child of this set is undoubtedly the immense marquee-style sign framing the back wall of the stage, spelling the words “Sanchez, Baby!”
Jamie’s Note: Smaller venues usually cater to newer indie artists just getting their bearings in the live performance scene. It allows them to gauge audience feedback and tune their stage presence before they hit the road. That being said, we got to see Sanchez at XL Live in Harrisburg, PA, a smaller venue by nature, but has partnered with Harrisburg University to bring in some bigger names in the past like The Struts, The Roots, Wolf Alice, Elle King, and Death Cab For Cutie.
Three songs go by a lot faster than usual when you’re squinting through a viewfinder, trying to adjust your settings to the constantly changing lighting, and deciding what subject to focus on when your frame is exceedingly limited. I simply tried to snap as many photos as I could and hope that I caught at least a handful of decent shots. The whole experience was a whirlwind and I definitely had a few fleeting moments when I wondered if I was simply hallucinating the entire thing. We were pointed towards the artist’s entrance to the stage after the third song had finished, which dumped us out into the house once more. Once the adrenaline rush started to subside, the sheer realization of what I had just done hit me and it truly was one of the most amazing feelings to experience. I’ve fantasized about photographing every concert I have attended and finally, miraculously, it happened at this one. And perhaps the best part of this experience overall was that I got to return to the audience and just be a spectator once I’d done my job in the pit.
The Angel Face tour was structured primarily around the album, with a setlist that featured just short of its entirety. Angel Face is unique in the sense that it follows the fictional narrative of “The Troubadour Sanchez” through the late 1950’s into the 1960’s and his fatal love affair with the angel face herself, Evangeline. Personally, I think it is this charming persona that has given Stephen’s popularity such a boost over the past year. His name became known in popular culture in 2020, when his single “Until I Found You,” began trending on social media. I suppose he falls under the category of “Tiktok star”…but you’d never guess it when seeing one of his shows.
Jamie’s Note: Sanchez has already found his fit as a late 1950s pop-rock revivalist who pulls inspiration from Paul Anka and Elvis Presley, and turned the XL Live into what I imagine my high school’s prom was like in 1958. The size of the venue helped with that image since you could’ve fit the entire stage and crowd of people within the gymnasium. That definitely helped create that fifties feel Sanchez kicks-off with just a few strokes of his guitar.
Stephen entered the stage to tumultuous screams and applause and opened the show as he opened the album, with the ballad, “Something About Her,” bathed from behind in a single spotlight, saccharine voice accompanied by nothing more than a few notes from the piano. It was a gentle exposition to the show, leading into the crooning love song, “Evangeline.” It was at this point that we got a fully-illuminated look at the Troubadour, dressed suavely as ever in a black satin button down and high-waisted slacks that emphasized the fact that this man is probably 70% leg.
Unfortunately, the evening’s setlist was significantly abbreviated as Stephen had been fending off a cold throughout the day. But despite this, he was still able to provide an impressively strong performance of the songs he could manage. As a spectator, I never would have known he was sick from the way he sang. He still brought unparalleled energy throughout the entirety of the concert, absolutely smashing each of his songs and wooing the crowd with a charismatic rendition of “Oh, Pretty Woman” by Roy Orbison. I loved the inclusion of this cover, which fit both his vocal style and the theme of the show perfectly.
After rocking the room with perhaps the most anticipated song of the night, “Until I Found You,” Stephen’s band, The Moon Crests, took their leave and Stephen closed out the night with acoustic performances of “Caught in a Blue” off Angel Face followed by the painfully heartfelt ballad, “The Pool” off his 2021 EP, What Was, Not Now. While I’m not as well versed in his older discography, I, like most of his fans, adore “The Pool.” And hearing it live was as much as treat as it was a punch in the gut. I think it was the first time I listened closely to the lyrics as he sang them. Full disclosure: I’m a sucker for a sweet love song (probably one of the reasons I enjoy Stephen’s music so much) and “The Pool” hits me hard. It was a blissful five minutes and while it wasn’t the closer I expected, it was the perfect, sweet ending to the show, after which Jamie and I hit the bar and downed two Cokes faster than Taylor Swift can write a song about her ex.
Jamie’s Note: When I see young people become icons of pop culture, I’m quick to assume they’re still older than me because most of my life has been spent being a child. Turns out, Stephen Sanchez is only seven months older than me, and while that’s less of a blow than it would have been if he were in fact younger than me, it still makes you question what the hell you’re doing with your life.
