“I think it’s better the second time around,” Drop Nineteens sang on “My Aquarium” from their 1992 debut, Delaware, but it felt like a statement of fact when they played it on Saturday at Brooklyn club Warsaw. After nearly three decades apart, the shoegaze cult heroes returned last year with Hard Light, which rivals Delaware as their best album. The comeback also coincided with the current shoegaze resurgence — the band are more popular now than they ever were in the ’90s — and Saturday’s crowd had just as many young people in attendance as fans from back in the day. There were also lots of family members there, including bassist Steve Zimmerman’s very young kids who came down from Boston and watched from the balcony. Frontman Greg Ackell shouted them out from the stage, noting Steve’s daughter liked it when he “yelled and cursed,” and that “Nausea” was going out to her.
This was Drop Nineteens’ fourth show in 30 years, and Ackell seemed extra excited, telling the crowd he lived just a couple blocks away and it was a rare treat to use your own shower on tour. In general, the band were jazzed to be back and playing shows with a great new album and people who were excited to see them. They sounded fantastic, too, with a setlist that included classics (“Winona,” “My Aquarium,” “Delaware”), new songs (“Scapa Flow,” “Tarantula,” “The Price Was High”), deep cuts (“Nausea,” “Mayfield”) and their cover of Lana Del Rey’s “White Dress.” The two final songs of the night, both from Delaware, got the biggest reactions: their cover of Madonna’s “Angel” and then the encore of shoegaze-dance jam “Kick the Tragedy,” which is their most-streamed song by a mile and really came alive on Saturday night, especially when it roars back in after a gentle midsection. Great show and welcome back.
One note: At one point, Greg Ackell chastised himself for leaving his phone on and in his pocket, which apparently went off during the previous song, noting he enforces a strict “no phones onstage” policy with the rest of the band. “Now this is what BrooklynVegan is gonna write about,” he said jokingly. Well, now we have to, Greg!
Check out video and the setlist from Drop Nineteens’ show at Warsaw below.
Brooklyn was the final East Coast date of their tour, and later this week they head to the West Coast for shows in Oakland and Los Angeles with Winter.
SETLIST: Drop Nineteens @ Warsaw 4/20/2024
Delaware
Gal
Mayfield
Winona
Shannon Waves
The Price Was High
Nausea
Ease It Halen
My Aquarium (Second Time Around)
A Hitch
White Dress
Tarantula
Scapa Flow
Angel
Encore:
Kick the Tragedy