After interviewing Knox earlier this week, I’ve been looking forward to attending his first headline show where he played songs from his new EP “How To Lose A Girl in 7 Songs.” The show was at The End, an intimate rock dive bar on Elliston, where many members of the crowd sported “monumental mess” hats in reference to lyrics in Knox’s song “NYC.”
The show opened with Z. Smith, a Nashville-based punk rock artist and good friend of Knox. Smith helped Knox write many of the songs on the new EP, so it was special to see him open the show with his own songs. Smith was joined by his band members Mitchell Jarnholt, Reed Hoelscher and Garrett Jenkin.
The second opener, John Harvie, ran on stage in a shimmery black suit jacket, leather pants and sunglasses. He played some of his hits such as “Bleach (On the Rocks),” “Worse” and, my favorite song of his, “Alaina.”
Harvie fired up the crowd as everyone was jumping and singing along to his catchy lyrics. One fan was spotted holding up a fan for John to use to cool off, of which band member Reese Maslen took advantage.
(Sara West)
Knox took the stage at 9:30 p.m. CST, and the energy was through the roof for the entirety of his set. Knox played his full EP and even some unreleased songs. He brought opener John Harvie back out to sing their duet “Leg Day,” which he noted he usually doesn’t perform.
When announcing that he would play his song “Dumpster Fire,” Knox told the audience it was his parents’ favorite, and they happened to be in the crowd right next to me. I later learned that many other family members were in the audience as well. In the middle of the set, Knox paused to film a video for MTV’s Instagram Story, which he took over for the day. He also took a fan’s BeReal during his set.
(Sara West)
Although Knox kept the energy high the entire set, he teared up while performing “NYC,” which he told The Hustler was the most special song on the EP. He shared that he never could’ve imagined hearing so many people singing it back to him, and he paused to take in this special moment.
Knox closed out the show with “Sneakers,” which prompted many fans to take their shoes off and hold them up in the air. After the show ended, fans, friends and family stuck around to continue celebrating Knox and his success — a full-circle end to the night for the up-and-coming artist.
