Feature Image: @Joeltphotography
On Tuesday May 9th at the Bowery Electric in NYC, I had the privilege to attend Emily Thomas’ debut show. I first discovered Emily on TUC Magazine’s NEXT UP alumn, Cellus Hamilton single “Seeds in the Ground” off his latest album , We are & We shall. Emily’s voice was captivating then and it was even more so in person.
I thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance of the dimly lit room filled with all of Emily’s family and friends as well as others who came just to hear quality music.
The show kicked off with Texas born native, Travis McClung who set the mood right with some smooth R&B. He swooned all the ladies in the room with his smooth falsetto runs. All the women in the room got dreamy eyed and started clutching their hearts in amazement of Travis’ smooth voice while all the fellas in the room looked across each other nodding in amazement.
Next up was the future pop band, Mar|co comprised of singer Marie Lang from Vienna, Austria and producer Alex Coco from Miami, Florida. Their electro pop sound brought energy to the crowd and had the audience engaged in every tune they performed. When I spoke to Marie after the band’s performance, she mentioned that this was the last performance for Mar|co as she would be embarking on a solo career.
At approximately 9:30 pm, Emily stepped on stage for her 40 minute set. The room was as electric as the name of the venue itself. From the moment Emily walked on stage, she had the crowd gravitating to every note that she sung. Emily performed her unreleased tracks City , Come A Little Closer, I Walk Along ,and One Day with her Pace University roommate which is dedicated to her best friend’s breakup with her ex boyfriend . Emily joked with the crowd that the song made her best friend cry due to Emily writing a song for her while Emily admitting cried because the relationship was finally over for good. Emily also called up Cellus Hamilton to perform their featured track together, Seeds in the Ground . Emily also performed her rendition of Beyoncé’s “Hold Up” single off the Lemonade album as well as her own singles, Call you Mine and the crowd favorite, Midnight.
I thoroughly enjoyed Emily Thomas’ debut show from start to finish. She possesses all of the qualities of a great artist and performer. If you enjoy ballads, she has them in her catalog, If you enjoy feel good music that will make you want to get up and dance, she has those in her catalog as well. Emily also possesses the rare gift of making you as if she is performing exclusively for you. She knows when to engage with her audience and she gives her fans insight into her world as an artist, friend, sister, and nanny as she even took time to acknowledge all of the families that contributed in supporting her during her journey as an independent artist.
Emily Thomas is sure to be an artist to watch throughout the duration of her career and we here at True Urban Culture are ready to strap in for that journey and we hope you join us on the ride .
Check out Emily Thomas’ Midnight music video below :
