At the Badaboum, Fcukers’ dance party hit “Homie Don’t Shake” shimmied into the jangling “UMPA.” Wise’s voice was sugary but never overly sweet, even when leaning into lush slowness on the R&B-inflected “Heart Dub.” At one point during the set, she broke out a whistle like a gym teacher.
Sweat levels rose with the bleating bop “Mothers,” and when “Bon Bon” hit, the mosh pit flourished. When the set ended with “Tommy,” the crowd danced with abandon—but Wise never lost her careful composure.
Chloe Slater – Mécanique Ondulatoire, Saturday, November 9
In Mécanique Ondulatoire’s dungeon-style basement, sauna-level heat emanated from the crush of people gathered to watch Chloe Slater. The Manchester-based musician debuted in 2023 with her aching single “Sinking Feeling!,” posting on TikTok regularly to grow her audience. Here, sporting a black vest over a white short sleeved button down and wide-leg cuffed skater jeans, she accessorized with a once-wrapped string of pearls and dangly heart earrings.
Slater grinned while kicking off the set with her reproach of the privileged, “Nothing Shines On This Island”—“He’s got his contacts in the monarchy,” she sang. Onstage, she radiated a girlish charm and earnest elation, delighting in the enthusiasm of the crowd. Seeing a performer so evidently unjaded was a gratifying rarity. Before playing “Death Trap,” she asked the crowd, “Do you know it?”; when they confirmed, she seemed beside herself with joy, beaming as she belted out the all-too-relatable refrain: “The landlord is a piece of crap!”
Slater also played two unreleased songs, “Fig Tree” and “Harriet,” the latter about being jealous of your boyfriend’s ex and feeling unmoored by the lingering legacy of a previous lover. In heart-on-her-sleeve fashion, she recounted crying over toothbrushes (“I’m not obsessed/I’m just upset,” she justified). For “Price on Fun,” about avoiding the ugly things happening in the world, she delivered her lament with exuberance and sparkle, despite being “sick and tired of the state of this nation.”
Slater was gracious and thanked the crowd after each and every song. “We’re all just from small towns in England,” she demurred on behalf of her three-piece backing band. She concluded the set with “24 Hours”: “It’s not clear if I am ripening or rotting,” she sang—but ripening she definitely is.
