Concert Review: Gus Dapperton Gathers The Polly People At Elesewhere

I love Gus Dapperton because he is the coolest weirdo, and everyone needs an artful eccentric in their life. He is young, smartly deranged, and inclusive, which are three things that people want for their world. Often, we confuse imaginative and insane, but Dapperton showed Elsewhere that the craziest thing you can do is never be yourself and thus never find anyone to love YOU.

From high kicks to taking off his shirt and belting his voice until its crackled like ice cream dipped in soda, Gus had me shook. He represents every person seeking the freedom to be themselves, and finding that the chains are not always social. It is not always that SOCIETY is bringing us down; although it completely plays a role. Yet, as he played news songs from his excellent album, Where The Polly People Go To Read, you realize the hardest person to hold accountable in your heartbreak is you. 

Society may telly you not to be yourself, but what about that toxic boyfriend you keep on going back to? Why are you staying with him? Or how about those 20 million times when you called yourself stupid or ugly, and you didn’t even make a mistake? For Dapperton, his new record shines, in concert, because it builds a space that is equal parts self-acceptance and self-forgiveness; observing the choices we make in love for others as a journey in learning to love ourselves. This he does as he jingles his guitar and wore a pair of shades that could easily sell-out Zara. Yet, that is the point, he looks like NOW while singing to problems people have had since forever. 

Love! We all need it. We all want it, and nearly every historical text mentions our struggle to get it. WOW! While The Hall absorbed Dapperton’s contorting body and vocals, as if energy was something that, literally, shape-shifts you, I realized that Gus really matches his audience. His euphonious vocals met their gentle hearts, and exemplified that we pick our favorite artists for their spiritual style as much as their sonic one. For More Information On Gus Dapperton Click Here.