“Merch ideas for HOMESHAKE’s next tour: Earplugs and Kleenex”

I’m always first in line to any concert, and it was no different for HOMESHAKE’s November 4th show at the Regency in San Francisco. I was greeted by two burly men––well, seemingly burly, as they were bundled up in four to five layers of jackets. I checked my phone at 6:32 pm. Doors open at 7:00. I felt both accomplished and embarrassed, standing timidly, waiting for them to give me the “okay” to walk through the metal detector, my Nikon Z50 with an almost unnecessarily large lens dangling awkwardly around my neck weighing me down. When the time came, they flashed me a smile, and I was delighted to finally feel welcomed instead of anxious. I hummed along to “Smoke” as I walked up the Regency’s front entrance steps, trying not to let the process of picking up my photo pass and having my ID checked distract me from the melody playing in my head. After getting my pass, a fluorescent yellow sticker that read “GOLDENVOICE: PHOTO,” I wandered into the main venue.

As my hands found their place on the barricade, their warmth was quickly diffused by the coolness of the metal. A bit uneasy––partly due to my incessant imposter syndrome and partly due to not having slept well the night before––I took my hands off. I glanced around, and there went the dirty looks from loved-up couples. It seems that cuffing season doesn’t only exist in the context of Instagram memes and X tweets. I laugh a bit, or at least, I remember chuckling to myself. The first time I ever listened to HOMESHAKE wasn’t during a makeout session or a first date, as many of these overly affectionate members of this crowd might proclaim as their experience. It was in 2016, and I had just come out to all my friends. Of course, coming out at any age is terrifying, but being a middle school girl added its own layers of “I hate this,” and “Why did I do that?” During an especially terrible day post-coming-out, I remember sprawling out on my bedroom floor and listening to whatever Spotify recommended played. In truth, I felt so out of control in my life at the time that I didn’t even think I should try to control what songs were blasting in my headphones. HOMESHAKE’s “Making a Fool of You” made its way to my ear canals and eventually found a home as my most-played song of that year. “Making a Fool of You” was my top song in 2016 for many reasons. One, it’s beautifully awkward. His shy, almost squeaky voice, with wobbling, distorted lo-fi instrumentals was a sound that I could relate to. Second, with lyrics like “Fuck, usually it rolls right off / Guess it’s only my bad luck / Didn’t want to be so soft / Doesn’t matter anyways,” I felt incredibly seen––as a young girl who wanted to brave it all, but was still utterly aware of how vulnerable I really was. So, I was excited to find out if it was going to land somewhere on the setlist.

Once the opener ended their set, HOMESHAKE and his live band took to the stage. Squeezing my way through a sea of American traditional tattooed limbs, I went past the barricade to begin photographing (which is admittedly difficult if you wear glasses and they’re streaked in mascara remnants from crying tears of joy so heavily within the first 5 seconds of them being on stage). My Nikon’s familiar leather casing soothed my shaking hands, and I began to click away––remembering to dab my eyelids and cheeks with the back of my hand, as usual, between photos. When the instrumentals for “Every Single Thing,” lo-fi, indie pop, with a touch of soul and a sprinkle of R&B, began to ooze out of their respective instruments, I felt my cheeks getting wet and began to quickly dab them dry so as to not ruin my makeup. Great, I thought. They’re going to play a bunch of old songs! I expected HOMESHAKE’s usually lilting, lo-fi, charmingly laid-back sound; but, soon the guitar pedals were being obliterated, shoegaze style. The drums began to hiss and rattle more in stark contrast to the way they gently thumped along during the first song, and I felt a Cheshire-cat smile creep up on my face as I realized that HOMESHAKE was going to play songs from his latest album releases, Horsie (2024) and CD Wallet (2024). Except, they were playfully reconstructed as “rock songs” as HOMESHAKE casually stated in the mic.

I can’t remember much else due to a horrible migraine, despite taking 1,673 photos that night, writing 7 pages of notes in my journal, and debriefing my experience with friends who also attended the show. I’m not exactly saying that the loud, brash, deafening guitar chords had anything to do with the migraine that set in mid-show, but I am implying that there might be some correlation. But, I also get extremely lightheaded when I cry too hard, and from the glow of everyone in the crowd’s eyes and cheeks, I could tell I wasn’t the only one. I’m sure HOMESHAKE could tell too, sweetly wishing the crowd to “Have a wonderful life…I hope it gets better and better…” and thanking us for “Playing along with the charade,” regarding the encore. As I walked out of the venue, I noticed there was no merch table awaiting the hoards of money-in-hand fans. That was probably for the best since all I really wanted to buy was some Kleenex and earplugs for whenever I attend the next HOMESHAKE show.

Article and Photos by Danika Sanchez