Arlie’s Angels Visit The Basement in Columbus
Arlie does NOT mess around when it comes to performing. He brought electricity and high energy to the Basement, which left the crowd questioning if the night was one big dream. If his goal was to make reality disappear, there is no doubt the job was done.
Nathaniel Banks, an Indie pop musician from Nashville, Tennessee who goes by the stage name Arlie, is currently traveling across America on the “Arlie’s Angels 2023 tour.” He gathered up his band, aka Arlie’s Angels, along with two special guests, Whitehall and The Sewing Club, to make history with a headlining tour. The tour started on February 2nd in Birmingham, Alabama, and is planned to wrap up in Dallas, Texas on March 9th.
Arlie had just finished the “Arlie and the Ocolate Factory” tour as the opening act for The Wrecks, an Indie Rock band from Los Angeles, California, in November. He also performed in a New Year’s Eve concert special with two other talented bands, flipturn and Hotel Fiction in Atlanta, Georgia to start the 2023 year off right.
On February 16th, Arlie’s Angels came to The Basement, a popular underground venue in Columbus, Ohio. The night started with The Sewing Club sharing beautiful vocals and impactful lyrics. Their artistry was a perfect way to start the evening. Next, Whitehall played a powerful opening set that gave the crowd the energy they needed heading into Arlie’s set.
* All photos by Audrey van Schagen
Nothing could’ve prepared me for the lively and ethereal performance Arlie was about to give on a rainy Thursday night at The Basement. After waiting for Arlie to announce a tour date in Columbus, I was ready to hear his new album, BREAK THE CURSE, live. I discovered Arlie from his song, “Too Long,” from his 2018 EP titled Wait, and was hoping it would make its way on the setlist.
To start off the set, Arlie sprinted across the stage with his angel wings singing his famous 2018 single, “blackboard.edu.” The crowd was in awe of the heaven-like stage set up, admiring the cloud stage props and his band’s angel-like outfits. He made the audience feel like they were transported to an alternate dimension with clouds and angels, featuring blue and yellow lighting.
Before singing his popular 2017 single, “didya think,” he admitted that he wrote this song as a diss to himself. This song focuses on the difficulties of life as a musician and how this career choice requires a resilient and hardworking mindset to make it far. It isn’t easy being in the music industry, but Arlie’s energy, perseverance, and determination have built him a successful growing career with a loyal fan base. This song brought everyone to life and had everyone jumping and singing to his self-made diss track.
Early in the night, Arlie played a solo on his vibrant red electric guitar a few feet away from the front row, pumping the crowd up. However, the instrumental solos did not stop there. At the end of “Barcelona Boots,” Arlie disappeared for a second, reappeared with a saxophone, and blew the crowd away with an impressive saxophone solo.
Arlie made sure that the crowd was having a good time at all times. During his song, “break the curse,” he gave the audience a note to sing, and everyone sang it back in unison. He recorded the crowds’ vocals and made an angelic sounding preset on the spot. He then applied the preset to his mic, went around to each of his bandmates, and had them sing into it. The vocals with the applied preset sounded ethereal and left the crowd silent in awe-struck. The way Arlie included the crowd in his vocal performance made everyone feel more connected and a part of the music.
Starting off the second half of the set, Arlie beautifully sang his catchy song, “too long.” He put his heart and soul into this performance and even showed the crowd some love by holding a few of the audience members’ hands.
As if the crowd hadn’t been spoiled enough, Arlie decided to give an up-close acoustic performance of an unreleased song titled, “someone you can believe in.” He admitted that this was one of a few songs that actually made him feel like a songwriter while writing it. Arlie stood on the edge of the stage with his guitar and sang this song with his raw voice, leaving the microphone behind. The venue was silent while everyone attentively listened to heartfelt lyrics accompanied by a beautiful strumming pattern. Arlie had everyone shouting along to the final bridge of his second-to-last song, “titanic.” The vocal performance of this song was astounding. The first line of the bridge, “we’re still young,” was sung using a calm, natural singing voice. However, as the bridge progressed, the crowd’s voices built up to a shout, and the words “we’re still young” took on a whole different meaning. It was chaotic and angry sounding, embodying the true difficulty of growing up.
Arlie ended his performance with his 2017 debut single, “big fat mouth” from his EP Wait. A perfect way to end an impressive performance. After the concert, Arlie hung around the merch table to meet and converse with fans. I had the opportunity to meet him with my sister and we asked him the question, “what is your favorite song to perform?” He told us that it changes every night, but his favorite song that he performed that night was “didya think.” There is no doubt that that song’s performance was also a crowd favorite of the night.
Not all artists can give a once-in-a-lifetime performance, but Arlie made it look easy. There was not a moment in the night where he backed away from giving it his all. The crowd reciprocated his energy, making the night nothing shy of an exhilarating experience. If you are ever offered a chance to catch Arlie live, don’t miss out!
Listen to Arlie’s newest single, “findaway,” which was released on February 17th!