Japanese Breakfast leader Michelle Zauner has been having a huge year, including the release of the band's third album Jubilee in June; her memoir, Crying in H Mart, in April (which was also acquired for a film adaptation); and Sable, the video game she soundtracked, in September. Midway through Thursday night's (10/14) show at Brooklyn Steel, the first of four sold out nights Japanese Breakfast are playing at the venue, she reflected on their rise, reminisced on when they were opening for Slowdive on the same stage in 2017 and saying, "I keep waiting for our moment to dim, but it hasn't."

It's definitely hard to imagine Japanese Breakfast in a support slot at the moment; they've always been good live, but they're truly firing on all cylinders now, a few months into their current tour. From the first song of the night, "Paprika," where Michelle gleefully bounced around the stage, pausing only to hit a gong, they had the crowd in the palm of their hands. While most of the set focused on Jubilee, they included plenty of older favorites too, including "Road Head," "Boyish," "The Body is a Blade," and an incredibly poignant rendition of "Till Death." A pulsing, hypnotic light show added depth, especially to songs like "Posing for Cars," with its extended, shoegazey closing jam, and had people grooving along.

See pictures from Thursday night's show including of Luna Li, who opened the night with a set that included blissful looped violin and guitar, below, along with Japanese Breakfast's setlist.

Get Jubilee on cassette and Soft Sounds from Another Planet on vinyl in the BV store.

SETLIST: JAPANESE BREAKFAST @ BROOKLYN STEEL, 10/15/2021
Paprika
Be Sweet
In Heaven
The Woman That Loves You
Kokomo, IN
Heft
Savage Good Boy
Road Head
Boyish
The Body Is a Blade
Tactics
Glider
Posing in Bondage
Till Death
Slide Tackle
Everybody Wants to Love You

Encore:
Posing for Cars
Diving Woman