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It’s only fitting that “Turnstile summer” – coined by Charli xcx herself – would kick off on Brooklyn’s hottest day yet. About 9,000 sweaty people crammed Under the K Bridge (yes, it’s literally under the Kosciuszko Bridge) on the 86F day to celebrate the release of the hardcore band’s new album, Never Enough.
And there was plenty to celebrate for the Baltimore-based group, who have found themselves on the edge of the mainstream. Following their 2021 album Glow On, where frontman Brendan Yates traded in some screaming for singing over a blend of heavy riffs, soul and even dream pop, Turnstile has picked up three Grammy nominations, opened for Blink-182, received the aforementioned Charli xcx shoutout at Coachella and, this past week, found themselves on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show to promote Never Enough.
Their new album takes Glow On’s blueprint and expands on it with hints of the Police, jazzy flutes, and guest spots from Hayley Williams and Dev Hynes, but Turnstile is still a hardcore band at heart. The album release concert was a chaotic, wild affair – the kind of show where you can’t keep both feet on the ground at the same time (and if you do, you might end up losing your shoe, like the man next to me did).
They opened with the title track, Never Enough, and even though the single had been released only weeks earlier, nearly every person in the audience sang it back to Yates as loudly as possible – ready to celebrate a new album and new era. The band wasted no time quickly launching into TLC (Turnstile Love Connection), and you could feel the energy reverberating off the bridge above the stage. The crowd exploded, feeding off Yates’s energy as he bounced around the stage, as fan after fan crowd-surfed toward the stage, limbs flailing everywhere.
The end-to-end mosh pit didn’t let up for the 23-song set, the crowd hungry for more after each song. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief whenever a slight breeze would pass through the tightly packed crowd, only to quickly return to dancing, moshing and crowd surfing.
The setlist was unsurprisingly heavy on Glow On, with Mystery and Holiday getting some of the biggest reactions from the crowd. Yates would hold the mic stand in the air, no need to sing, as the crowd was doing it loudly enough for him. Despite Glow On’s dominance, the band also pulled out some older cuts that had the crowd shouting in excitement, including 7 off of 2013’s Step 2 Rhythm.
One of the few moments Yates spoke to the audience was to introduce I Care, which the band was performing for a live audience for the first time. It was clear a good chunk of the crowd saw their Fallon performance – or were just quick to pick up the simple chorus – repeating the hook back to him. Despite the crushingly emo lyrics of heartbreak (“But do you really want to fall apart? / And do you really want to break my heart in two?”), they were all dancing to the 80s-style pop groove.
The biggest surprise of the night came near the end of the show, as Williams kick-danced her way to the center of the stage in bright red boots to join the band for Seein’ Stars. While you can barely make her out on the studio version, Williams took center stage at Under the K Bridge, belting out the song as Yates bounced closer to the back of the stage. There’s no denying the cars on the bridge above must have heard the crowd’s reaction as the two sang the chorus together, arm in arm.
The night ended with one of the first singles off Never Enough, Birds. The heavy guitar rhythm – reminiscent of No Doubt’s Hella Good – was the perfect endnote to a powerful show. As Yates sang on their previous album’s song No Surprise: “You really gotta see it live to get it.”
