sombr? I Barely Know Her!

By Nour Hamad

Except before attending his concert in Austin, I really did barely know him.

To me, sombr was an unfamiliar name up until about a couple months ago. If you had told me then that I’d be going to one of his shows, I think I would’ve laughed in your face.

I was never a huge fan of sombr or his music, but I wanted to give him a chance. Plus, some of my friends are pretty big fans of him, so I wanted to see what the hype was about. I know he’spopular, especially right now, but I didn’t realize he was ~60-million-monthly-Spotify-listeners-popular — and one of his hit songs, “back to friends”, just hit a billion streams?! And he’s only 20 years old?! Needless to say, I was more than intrigued.

Making my way to Stubb’s, a bit after the opener, Devon Gabriella, had started, I tried to clear my mind of any pre-existing opinions of sombr that could affect my experience. After picking up our passes and making an embarrassing mistake of walking through the metal detectors without a wristband and having to go back in line and do it all over again to acquire said-wristband, I felt like I was in middle school all over again — the crowd was packed with girls ranging from 12-15-years-old. I tried clearing my mind of any preconceptions, but I couldn’t shake the memory of that viral TikTok of the 25-year-old lady recounting her sombr concert experience. Up to this point, she had been right.

Devon Gabriella seemed to be a hit with the crowd, especially when she played Billie Eilish’s

“BIRDS OF A FEATHER.” The audience erupted at the first chords, singing along

word-for-word. By the end of her set, I was already drenched in sweat (gross, I know, but

honest), and bracing myself for sombr’s set. Between sets, the venue played absolute bangers — “Fake Plastic Trees” by Radiohead, “Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure, “The Adults Are Talking” by The Strokes, and even “Between the Bars” by Elliott Smith. Unfortunately, it seemed like only I — and a handful of self-proclaimed male manipulators — knew the lyrics.

Before sombr even came on, people started passing out like dominoes. Water was being passed around, medics were weaving through the crowd, and people were literally burying vomit under Stubb’s infamous dirt floor. This was only my second time at the venue, and both experiences have been rough. The dust, the heat, and the sheer density of people don’t make for ideal conditions.

It was finally time for the star of the show, the one and only sombr. As soon as the lights

dimmed, I promise you, I’ve never seen so many phones go up as quickly as I did in that

moment. It was actually flabbergasting. Not only did everyone have their phones out, but they had them as far high up as their growing arms could reach. It was a sight to see, to say the least. If it weren’t for the gasps and screams that echoed throughout the venue, I wouldn’t have been able to see when sombr came out. I will say, the theme and skits he had going on were pretty cool, as they followed the name and theme of the tour: “sombr - The Late Nights & Young Romance Tour.” The show started with a slate/clapboard and went on to follow a Late Night show theme — it was somewhat entertaining! When it comes to concerts, I really do appreciate and respect artists who actually put on a performance rather than playing an album front-to-back as recorded. If I wanted the latter, I wouldn’t drop hundreds of dollars on a concert ticket, I would just listen to the album, y’know? So, when artists like sombr put in the effort to follow a theme, or tell a story through their performance, it’s enjoyable, even if I’m not an avid listener of them.

The lighting design was gorgeous—dynamic yet tasteful. Even with some of sombr’s more

somber songs (haha, get it?), the lighting fit the music while still being fun and engaging.

sombr’s sparkly top reflected the lights like a disco ball, scattering color across the crowd.

Though there was a lack of crowd etiquette, I found it pretty impressive that they knew what

seemed like all of the lyrics to all of his songs, not only the “hits.” The crowd was exceptionally loud and very engaged, which I applause sombr for. It’s not easy to keep the energy up in an outdoor venue in Texas, especially when it’s surrounded by dust, and especially when people are passing out and getting pulled out, but sombr did a great job pushing through and keeping the crowd’s engagement high.

As the show approached its end, sombr’s encore consisted of, as he called them, “the hits.” I

thought the audience couldn’t get any louder, but they somehow did. During one of the final

songs, he had to stop to check on a fan(s) that passed out (?), and reminded the audience to stay hydrated and take care of themselves. Even sombr himself admitted that it was “getting hard to breathe.” I appreciated that he ended the show with the same clapboard that opened it—nice thematic continuity.

But the night wasn’t quite over. After sombr’s concerts, he usually comes outside with a

megaphone, sings some songs, and engages with fans. Naturally, I waited outside—purely for journalistic purposes, of course. I could tell the venue’s employees and security were fed up with everyone; they tried multiple times to scare people into leaving, saying that sombr wouldn’t show up, etc. etc., but his fans were dedicated. Finally, sombr came out and sang snippets of some of his most popular songs through the megaphone. We waited about 40 minutes for him to come out after the show, and he was outside for only about 15. I will say, I do admire his willingness to come out after every show and take photos and say hi to fans, especially with how much he grew in such a short period of time.

All in all, the experience I had at sombr’s The Late Nights & Young Romance Tour wasn’t as

terrible as I thought it would be. He provided an engaging and energetic performance, even

through the venue’s climate and dust. Though his on-stage ego seems to be through the roof, he does appear to really care about and appreciate his fans. I went with one of my friends, who is a bigger fan of sombr than I am, and her thoughts consisted of “music wise, he wasn’t that bad, but his persona can be received in many different ways,” which I definitely agree with. She commented that it’s obvious that he’s aiming for a younger audience, and he needs to be careful with the things he says and does given his quick rise to fame, especially regarding the recent TikTok he put out in response to another TikTok that I mentioned earlier, in which he didn’t even address the main issue, but instead commented on their age gaps (though she’s probably closer in age to him than he is to a good chunk of his fans.) Overall though, she did have fun but felt bad for the people passing out. With that being said, would I ever pay to go to one of his shows? Definitely not. Am I still grateful for the experience? Of course. Would I have appreciated the show even more if I was a middle school girl going through her first breakup? Without a doubt.

At the end of the night, I didn’t leave a sombr fan — but I did leave impressed by just how much power one Gen Z heartthrob can hold over a crowd.