It’s not every day that I find a performer loveable onstage, but Underscores managed to do just that. April Harper Grey, the performer behind this sensational San Francisco pop act, has a charming energy, and you can’t help but root for her as she thrashes around alone on the massive, empty Palomosa stage.
Although her set began a little tame and timid as the crowd started to fill out, Grey quickly found her footing within the first few songs, commanding far more attention than most backing track solo artists could muster. From shoegaze-inspired pop-punk to autotuned, baby voice bangers, we got a full introduction to Underscores for the uninitiated.
A daylight set is never easy for a performer of this type, whose music is no doubt better suited to a dark club show. Despite this, Underscores methodically won the crowd over one track at a time. She showed more of her personality when speaking between songs, showing off a sweet side that made her easy to like. I was particularly impressed when she politely asked us to kneel down for a quiet part of the set: “I know it’s early, but it would be cool if everyone got down for this part and jumped around when it drops. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” How can you refuse an offer like that? I kneeled, looked around, and realized virtually 100% of the audience was doing the same thing. It’s a small display, but it’s also not something that every artist could pull off.
By the end, people were moving hard, thoroughly on Underscores side as both she and the crowd amped things up. Halfhearted fistbumps morph into frenetic dancing. Restrained applause give way to full-spirited hollers, and all this energy clearly makes it up to Grey onstage, who feeds off of it in a beautiful, reciprocal display of entropy and joy. Subtle, yet insistent, restrained, yet confident, Underscores did everything she could without ever doing too much, and we loved her for it.
