Concert Review: Cassandra Jenkins Is My Geppetto

Cassandra Jenkins is, probably, the chillest storyteller I have ever seen. She was so calm and collected as she described the ups and down of life and the 16 year old girl desperate to sneak into her concert. It was a funny moment that, oddly, embodied the heart of her music; we all want to grow “up” without knowing where the heck “up” is. 

Jenkins approaches the mic like she is Geppetto and we are her Pinnochio. She puppeteers us through narratives and songs that felt like a tea light candle being lit in our hearts: small, bright, and memorable. Her dry humor matches the metaphors that she makes in her songs; simple but insinuating os much more. It could be why her show felt like song and stand-up instead of the usual song and dance. She appeared like the “thinker’s” songstress; the music for the guy and gal that love sitting in a park, sipping their coffee quietly and watching everyone pass them by. 

I love watching people, and I truly try not to make that sound like the CREEPIEST thing you have read. Yet, lyrically, I felt like that was Cassandra Jenkins vibe at Bowery Ballroom. She was watching us, and telling us how we compare to the many people she has watched and put into song. Perhaps, that is why she remarked about that 16 year old legend, outside, so desperate to enter Bowery at Candice had given her oxygen. Perhaps, it is because when you write about people, for people, it makes your listeners feels like a person.

Yes, that may seem so simple. Cassandra Jenkins made people feel like “people,” even if she used symbolism and allegories in song.s Yet, that capacity to make everyone feel “normal” through lush vocals, lyrics, and instrumentals was a fit in a world where most of us watch people to see if they are as crazy as us.