Concert Review: AA Bondy Is Quietly Nuclear At Rough Trade

I love AA Bondy’s music. It is calming, intelligent, and gorgeously articulate. The way he insights on self-doubt and self-expression is beautiful and explained why he had a sold-out, one man show at Rough Trade. With his mix-board, a screen of never-ending images, and his wit, he was able to show that it takes art to express impending doom. 

I kept on thinking of the word “nuclear” as Bondy played songs from newest record Enderness. Yet, Bondy has a way of showing how quiet fear and hopelessness are as emotions. At times, we believe such feelings are combustive and loud, but such emotional explosions come after much silence, time, and inner tears. Hence, Bondy’s mournful, mellow voice embodied every moment you looked at the world and thought it was “s**t.” Excuse my French, but that is how AA Bondy expresses and feels his disappointment in watching a world succumb to its darkness as a man trying to overcome his own. 

When Bondy called himself an “A**hole,” my inner mom wanted to yell out, “NO YOU ARE NOT! YOU ARE AMAZING!” After all, considering a guy incessantly yelled “Play There’s A Reason!” every 5 seconds, I think the crowd would have welcomed the new heckler. Yet, Bondy was so cool-headed with him and his discussion of his self-loathing and depression. The way his music flowed into he carried himself, you could tell this was a guy who knows the nightly panic attack that strikes so many before they go to bed. It is as if the minute you tell yourself to shut your mind down, it decides to replay every time your heart broke. In that moment, Bondy creates songs so beautiful they should hang at The Met to be seen by all. 

Now on tour, AA Bondy gives a show that should be solo because it is so immersive and imaginative. The audience was submerged into a peace that approached pain. People are rightfully scared to see the world submit to hate because it is not like most of us love ourselves. Sure, there are a lot of good people in this world, but, at times, I wonder if the reason goodness does not transfer into boldness is because there is a lack of self-love. How can you confront evil if you think yourself low? Such deep thoughts swam through my mind as Bondy created a space that purposefully wanted its audience to think philosophically. For More information On AA Bondy Click Here.