Sofar Secrets

I may get murdered by Taylor Swift fans for what I’m about to say but: I will take a cozy living room-style show with talented local musicians over a $2000 stadium T-Swift ticket any day.

Tonight I had the very cool experience of attending a “Sofar” show. Sofar hosts “secret” shows in hundreds of cities around the world, at undisclosed locations that you don’t find out until 24 hours before the show. The performers’ identities are a secret until an hour before as well. The idea is to “bring the magic back to live music,” and in intimate locations with the audience cozied up on blankets directly in front of the musicians, it’s pretty magical indeed.

One of my friends was performing tonight so I knew one thing, but everything else was a surprise.

The whole evening was pretty incredible. The location was a local craft brewery / art gallery, and the three musicians all had very different styles but were each uniquely and incredibly talented.

There was even one person in the audience who had been to five Sofar shows in one week and I can see why. Every night is different and I will definitely be going back for more!

Here are a couple highlights of the night:

One of the thoughts I always have at shows like this is “how are these people not all already famous?” And maybe some day some of them will be — artists like Billie Eilish, Hozier and Leon Bridges have all played at Sofar early in their careers. But in the meantime, I’m happy to share these moments with them before they become too famous to play in a tiny local brewery / without a mob.

Have you ever been to a Sofar show? Do you know anyone who you think should be famous? What are your favourite local “secrets?”