Bleachers takes Central New York fans from the studio to the stage

Count on Jack Antonoff to take the sadness out of Saturday night. 

Antonoff’s alternative pop group Bleachers brought its “From the Studio to the Stage” tour to the Beak & Skiff Apple Orchard Saturday, delivering 90 minutes of crowd-pleasers for the sold-out show of 4,200.

Best known as one of the most successful music producers of the past decade with collaborations with Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Lana Del Rey, Lorde and most recently Kendrick Lamar and Sabrina Carpenter, Antonoff showed he has the presence, musical versatility and four-album discography to stand among the heavyweights he’s worked with. 

From the energetic, synth-filled, indie sounds of “Strange Desire,” to the more stripped-down, rockier feel of “Take the Sadness out of Saturday Night,” Bleachers delivered a setlist that kept fans daring to want more.

Indie rock singer Samia kicked off the night with her ballad “Pools” soothing the crowd into the show before the upbeat “Fit N Full” turned the mood around.

The New York native continued setting the stage for Antonoff, peaking with “Bovine Excision,” an unreleased song she has only performed while on tour with Bleachers. 

About 45 minutes after her set ended, Bleachers took the stage. 

The group gave fans an early taste of their most recent music with three songs from their self-titled fourth album. The New Jersey-based band includes Evan Smith, Mike Riddleberger, Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson and Zem Audu. One concertgoer at the front of the crowd held a sign that read, “HERE 4 MIKEY F*CK YOU JACK.”

“I Am Right on Time” introduced the group to the crowd. Then, “Modern Girl” and “Jesus Is Dead” gave Antonoff an opportunity to interact with the crowd and showcase his energy as lead singer. 

Following the trio of recent songs, the band took a step back to perform hits from each of their past albums. “How Dare You Want More” and “Everybody Lost Somebody” highlighted an early set of energetic songs, while “Rollercoaster” kept the spirits up deeper into the show. 

Halfway through the set, Antonoff introduced a song as an ode to his hometown pride, comparing his hometown to LaFayette.  

“If I would live here, I would love it very much,” Antonoff told the crowd before playing “Chinatown.” “It’s beautiful and I’m honored to be here.”

As the set went on, the backing band took a break from its usual sound for Antonoff to deliver new, acoustic renditions of “All My Heroes,” “91” and “Dream of Mickey Mantle” as it built up to the finale. 

With the concert nearing its end, fans of the group knew Antonoff would be saving arguably the band’s most successful song for the traditional encore. Instead, he used it to kick off a set of back-to-back songs that closed the show. 

Breakout hit from Bleachers’ first album “I Wanna Get Better” led the way, before transitioning to “Don’t Take the Money” and “Stop Making This Hurt” without a break or ending the previous song. 

By the end of the three songs, Antonoff fulfilled a promise to a fan, both agreeing to take off their shirts prior to the band taking a bow and exiting the stage, with Bleachers’ two saxophonists playing all the way back to the tour buses.