Fred again.. turns Climate Pledge Arena into Massive Club

We happily headed down to the Seattle Center to finally catch one of our favorite artists for the first time in Seattle. Fred again.. has taken the world like a hurricane reaching every part of it and creating its own unique bubble. After playing around multiple shows around the world this year he announced the Places We’ve Never Been tour and our city landed two shows. We’ve been addicted since the first time we heard his music, and we couldn’t wait to see what the night would bring given the massive venue. The music came at a time during the pandemic that just had a way to speak to us and for some reason it helped with our anxiety and stress of sitting in a house all day.

Frederick Gibson AKA Fred again.. started off by producing and songwriting for various artists, most notably working on Ed Sheeran‘s, No.6 Collaborations Project. Gibson won Producer of the Year at the Brit Awards in 2020 before releasing his own projects. He began his Actual Life project, in which he samples from various sources, and incorporates them into his own tracks. A lot of his songs sound like a “collaborative diary” drawing from experiences during the pandemic. Perhaps that’s why his tracks feel so familiar to millions; they are mirrors into their own emotions put delicately together by Gibson. After the incredible success of the three Actual Life albums, he went on to release, Ten Days, which we get to enjoy fresh as it just came out this month.

This was his first time in Seattle, playing two shows at the Climate Pledge Arena, which is insane for an artist that hasn’t even been here before to accomplish. This comes as no surprise to everyone who’s been following the star in the last few years as he’s been unstoppable. We were lucky enough to see Fred again.. a little bit in San Francisco a couple years ago for the first Portola Music Festival where the warehouse stage he was playing quickly reached capacity and people almost got injured in the line outside. We’ve been waiting since then to experience his own show and take it all in exclusively.

The night opened with two local DJs that were a part of the Between the Lines City Collective. Alexia Fite and Freddy M were lucky to start the show keeping up with Gibson’s mission to have local openers at his shows. This adds a more personal touch as he picks people locally at each of his shows giving new artists the spotlight they wouldn’t just have. They were handling the large arena just well and played some great tunes. It was definitely worth getting there early and catching their set warming up the crowd for the main act.

When it was time for the show to start, Tony Friend was the first one to take his place on the floor and then shortly Fred again.. came to the stage as fans cheered him on and filled the space with a loud noise. We loved the flow of the show as it slowly builds to the massive production that was created around it. Fred again.. set started with a few square lights hanging above their tables, making it feel like a very intimate club setting and focusing on just them. Highlights here included “Adore U,” “Dermot” “Daniele,” and “Places to Be.” As the night went on more lights were added around them and a hanging screen in the middle. They sometimes used the side screens and then as the music escalated the smaller lights were drawn up and massive screens appeared in the back. We absolutely loved all of the lighting, which perfectly matched with each tune in each stage of the show. By the end of the night the arena was actually transformed into a massive club, and we were all there just dancing our hearts out.

After the first part of the set ended with them being on the main stage, they actually extended one song and suddenly they appeared on the sides of the floor facing each other. This drove the audience mad, especially hearing “Jungle,” and “Rumble” during this part. After that Gibson continued to B stage that was in the FOH. This had a piano set up for him on a platform that lifted him up, so he was more visible to everyone. The highlight during this part was him playing his piano and getting the audience involved with singing back to him for “peace u need.” The whole room echoed with our exchange of singing, “I let you take a piece of me, I hope it’s the peace you need.”

When he was done with that part of the show he quickly ran back to the main stage for “Chanel” as everyone kept moving to the beat. After that we slowly heard the music to “Strong” starting to play and pictures of Romy flashed on the screens, providing the intro to their massive collaboration track. This song has been a hit for both of them and loving Romy’s voice already it was so easy to fall in love from the first time hearing it. I’m so happy that they found their way to each other and actually made this tune happen as it is so wonderful to listen to and get carried away. During the bridge, he slowed it down for us, and as he was singing along to “I’ve been lost,” the crowd would sing back to him “You don’t have to be so STRONG”, it was such an incredible exchange of coexisting in that moment.

During “Marea (we’ve lost dancing)” words about the isolation time appeared on the screens as we moved back-and-forth hearing the song, and actually remembered the time that we couldn’t do this with each other. It honestly feels like a different life and that it didn’t even happen. It’s wild how sometimes you can go back to a memory with just a song and get reminded of what it felt like then. How much that time cost everyone and how devastating it was to be away from each other, and the people you actually loved and to not be able to do things that define who you are as a person. I am thrilled to say that we are not in that time anymore and hearing that song with so many people around me felt like letting go of a piece of that isolation. At this time, we’ve found dancing again!

After finishing the show with “Delilah,” and thanking the fans for being there we did one last reprise of “peace u need.” This time the echoing of our words all together ended the show, perhaps with many of us finding the peace we needed. As the show ended this moment reminded us of just how strong music and a concert can be, and how important it is to have art in our life that helps us through the hardest moments and brings us together to enjoy the best ones. Fred again.. and again, and again, and again, and again. Forever.

Pictures: Theo Batterham and Ethan Kone