Earlier this year, I caught Nourished by Time play a fifteen minute set to a half-filled Bowery Ballroom at best as one of many artists participating in a fundraiser for abortions. During his brief time on stage, Nourished crouched over a mixing board to deliver a few of the tracks from his breakout record Erotic Probiotic 2. Now, months later, he played the venue with extremely different results and it was like seeing an entirely different artist. On this go around, he's backed with a synth and bass player who help round out his richly complex sound with added depth to match the highlights of his recordings. Freeing him up to only focus on vocals and his own board has allowed him to not only grow as an artist, but a performer as well, his newfound stage presence giving his live show a complete 180. Before tonight, if you had asked me about the styling of Nourished by Time, I would've described him as '90s R&B, yet watching him bring out layers of live guitar and synths recalled alt-rock and shoegaze vibes, all of which were enhanced in the live setting and challenged everything I had thought about him prior to this set. Of course his croon and dexterity on stage still brought out dance elements and club aesthetics, but watching it all gel together highlighted his talents on a whole new level. Opening the night with "Rain Water Promise" helped set the stage of his blurred and hypnotic rhythms that swell with a certain nostalgia all while still sounding eerily fresh and of the times. Wasting no time, early in the set he dove into "Hell of a Ride," easily one of the year's best songs and immediately had the crowd riding his wave of enthusiasm, the moment crystalizing with sheer brilliance that had the audience eating out of his hands as he got down and dirty, giving off Prince-level shrieks and hollers, putting an emphasis on the funk as much as the rock and dirty pop aspects to seal the deal. "Quantum Suicide" was another spellbinding moments that had the room entranced under his charm, everyone swaying with purpose and feels, grinding along to his ultra-smooth vocals that washed over with a solid glaze of pristine production work. "I have a lot of opinions and I'm a little drunk" he remarked at one point during the night. "My first opinion is Free Palestine" he declared to an expected, yet still rousing, cheer from the crowd. He then went on to talk about his relationship with the music industry, the whiplash feeling of recording these songs in a basement last year to selling out Bowery Ballroom the next, and how in that situation, "the math isn't mathing." However, while his thoughts on the industry may still be a bit green (although he did come to the revelation on stage that no one probably thinks they're saying things that will get them cancelled, they all think they're "telling truths"), his own awareness is what's likely to keep him around even if he believes he's already accomplished more than he could've imagined. Between balancing the more debonair and seductive tracks of the night, Nourished also demonstrated their skills in bringing the heat into the mix as well, the bigger moments of the night really got the crowd to dance and jam along with the uptempo grooves and by the time "Shred that Fear" made its way into the set, the crowd was ready to leave it all on the floor. With hints of the Law & Order theme keeping the pulse alive, the song has an inescapable groove that makes it impossible to shake it off as anything other than one which is calling you to boogie. It's a track that makes you realize the level of artistry on display and all that could possibly come from such a vision. Surely there are artists out there drawing crowds that are blowing minds (and others cancelling on tours that saw them over estimate their popularity), but watching Nourished by Time felt beyond that, like watching someone just before they reach their precipice and one who I'll never be able to see in a setting like this ever again. Even when other songs were already feeling next level, "Daddy" felt like the one to bring the ultimate flavor to the set and got the entire venue bouncing along to the killer mood of jumbling 808s, shimmering synths, and a jamming beat that would make anyone lose it to the groove. "The Fields" was another essential jam that got the crowd bumping along to the beats and gave everyone even more momentum behind the idea that we were seeing an artist on the verge of their next big moment. For the encore, he returned to do a solo rendition of "Romance in Me" along on guitar, once again swerving on the expectations of what many in attendance may have expected, but cementing the fact that his ability to enthrall and captivate a crowd with such a singular voice and sound isn't one anyone should pass up should they have the chance to relish in the experience.
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