English singer/songwriter Declan McKenna played an invigorating show at Houston’s Warehouse Live, ending his first American tour in four years with a bang.
Declan McKenna self-released his first single “Brazil” back in 2016, which garnered widespread attention for its critical lyrics about FIFA 2014 in Brazil. Many self-released singles and EPs later, he released his first debut album What Do You Think About The Car? in 2017, where he promoted the album with multiple worldwide tours. He has also made appearances at festivals such as Lollapalooza, Coachella and Glastonbury Festival, and has toured with artists like the Head and the Heart as well as Bastille. The singer went on to release his sophomore album Zeros in September 2020, after experiencing many delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The album, which features tracks like “Beautiful Faces” and “Key to Life on Earth,” was accompanied by a UK/Euro Tour in 2021. When McKenna announced his 2022 North American tour, most of the tour sold out immediately.
It was a cool Thursday afternoon, and fans welcomed him to Houston with colorful chalk drawings all over the Warehouse Live sidewalks. Singer Annie DiRusso was scheduled to open the show, but had to pull out due to circumstances out of their control. Taking over was local Austin band Casino AM, who played an amazing set and definitely garnered some new fans.
A flamboyantly-dressed Declan McKenna took the stage later, joined by his longtime touring band – drummer Gabi King, guitarist Isabel Torres, multi-instrumentalist Nathan Cox and bassist Will Bishop. He hinted on Twitter that they would play Zeros in its entirety to commemorate the final day of the tour, and they certainly delivered. They played the album from beginning to end – starting with “You Better Believe!!!” and “Be an Astronaut” and ended with “Sagittarius A*” and “Eventually, Darling.” The album itself was a great musical blend of 80s and 90s styles that fuse with his point of view of a dystopian future, all which led to a perfect performance of an album in its entirety.
For the encore, the band returned to play their “greatest hits” for the remainder of the night. McKenna started singing the heart-wrenching lyrics of “Listen to your Friends” from his debut album, and everyone was absolutely thrilled. He continued with standout performances of “The Kids Don’t Wanna Come Home” and “Why Do You Feel So Down,” where McKenna walked alongside the barricade to sing with hardocore fans. No one in the venue stood still when he sang “Make Me Your Queen,” “Humongous” and “Isombard,” where the singer absolutely killed it with his outstanding vocals and mesmerizing energy. While he did play his most popular track “Brazil,” he ended his set with the 2019 standalone single “British Bombs,” where McKenna destroyed his guitar with a British flag design and jumped all over the stage full of thrills.
The last Zeros show in Houston was definitely an amalgamation of McKenna’s upbeat songs, hardcore Houston fans, glitter and a room full of energy. He is definitely one of the best musicians of our generation, and he continues to prove so with his ongoing evolving musical content and immaculate live performances. His tour might be over, but we highly recommend checking him out whenever he is in a city near you.
Check out photos from the show:
I'm a full-time music journalist/photographer from Houston, number one Paramore fan and Husky dog owner. I have a B.S in Radio-Television-Film from UT Austin and a M.A in Mass Communications from the University of Houston, which makes me smart! On top of being an avid concert-goer and movie fanatic, I love bonding with others over the power of local music and media.
