Del Water Gap @ Mercury Ballroom - Louisville

July 14th, 2024: Del Water Gap, Kaleah Lee @ Mercury Ballroom - Louisville, KY

Photos Courtesy of: Emily May

Del Water Gap (S. Holden Jaffe) brought his current tour to Mercury Ballroom on July 14th to a sea of screaming fans! The nearly sold-out show was packed this evening, with fans filling the floor and all sides of the balcony. While starting the musical project in 2012, he rose to prominence in 2020 upon releasing “Ode To A Conversation Stuck In Your Throat” and “Mariposa” and has been growing a devoted fan base ever since. As the lights dimmed, signalling that the band was about to come out on stage, Jaffe and his band were welcomed with deafening screams and cheers, with the band wasting no time launching in their set. Starting things off with “Coping On Unemployment”, Better Than I Know Myself”, and “Dollhouse”, they had the crowd singing and dancing in no time. Jaffe was very engaging with the crowd, whether leading them all in sing-alongs, standing or sitting at the front of the stage to sing directly to them, or signing his autograph for a fan and later getting out into the crowd, it was very clear that he adores his fans as much as they adore him. He talked with the crowd often between songs, telling everyone early on how he was so honored to be there. He went on to say how he had been touring as support for Niall Horan and when he got to the tour was told he could play some one-off shows in places he hadn’t played before, with Louisville being one of those places. He said, “I played baseball as a kid and knew of the Louisville Sluggars but not much else about Louisville, so I am excited to be playing here! I wrote songs as a kid because I was too shy to tell girls I liked them and never thought I’d get to play music and tour as an adult. I’m so glad to get to play here and that people know my songs!”.

The band had such a fun and uplifting energy and spent their set making sure everyone was having a good time. As the set came to an end, they ended with “Perfume”, which saw Jaffe get out into the crowd, much to his fan’s delight. It was a great way to end their set before ultimately coming back out for an encore. Addressing the crowd one last time, he said “Louisville! Thank you so much for a beautiful evening. All I ever wanted was to be a singer, and I get to do so because of people like you who like to spend money on music, so thank you very much. I’ll never take it for granted!”. The band ended the evening with “We Will Never Be Like Anybody Else” and “Ode To A Conversation Stuck In Your Throat”. Starting things off this evening was Vancouver singer-songwriter Kaleah Lee. With just her and an acoustic guitar, she sang some really beautiful and thoughtful songs, with a voice that was both powerful and subdued. She had a bright and uplifting stage presence, chatting and having fun with the crowd. She got the crowd going towards the end of her set when she sang a cover of Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck, Babe!”. I do not doubt that she made plenty of new fans this evening! All in all, it was a super fun evening with a really fun energy!

Kaleah Lee