"Boston showed the f--- up," bandleader Jack Antonoff said Wednesday night.
By Carson Lyle
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Bleachers, with Hovvdy, at MGM Music Hall at Fenway, June 16, 2026.
Bleachers conquered Boston Tuesday at MGM Music Hall, with a perfectly curated setlist that satisfied both new fans and day one-ers.
Bleachers, a six-member band, arrived in Boston as part of their “Bleachers Forever Tour,” just months after the release of “Everyone for Ten Minutes,” their fifth album.
“Both of my parents went to college here,” lead singer Jack Antonoff said at one point, in case you needed any Boston bonafides. But no local connections were necessary to win over the MGM crowd on Wednesday.
Aside from having been one-third of the band Fun (now on hiatus), Antonoff is perhaps best known as a multi-Grammy Award-winning producer who has worked alongside Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and Lana Del Rey, just to name a few.
However, his stage presence and obvious love for his fellow band members made it clear that Antonoff is thrilled for this opportunity to be a performer alongside them.
The band kicked off their 23-song set at around 8:45, playing “Sideways,” the first song off of their new album.
“Boston showed the f— up,” Antonoff remarked at the crowd’s reaction.
Antonoff appeared on a structure built overlooking the stage and concert hall, drawing screams from fans pressed up against the railings, in a scene that seemed right out of a 2015 One Direction concert.
Without a pause, the band transitioned into their song “The Van.” Antonoff whipped out a harmonica, which turned out to be the missing piece of the song’s puzzle: In the hands of Bleachers, the harmonica isn’t a novelty, it is essential. Antonoff and his harmonica even played a call-and-response with the band’s saxophone player, Evan Smith.
A few songs later, the band played and dedicated “Everybody Lost Somebody” to the crowd. “This goes out to everyone in this room,” Antonoff said.
Despite its title, the song is very upbeat and has soaring saxophone riffs, which created the perfect atmosphere for a sing-a-long. (It is very clear that the Bleachers have a love affair with saxophones.)
Bleachers later whipped out “Dirty Wedding Dress,” apparently a reference to Antonoff’s crazy wedding day that literally shut down streets in Long Beach Island, New Jersey (thanks to encroaching Taylor Swift fans).
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“So we got married that August/And the neighbors all lost their minds/We had to board up all the windows and shoot out the drones,” he sang.
“Dream of Mickey Mantle” was, well, dreamy, like a campfire song that the one super talented camp counselor plays. Then … Bleachers played a Christmas song.
The song released in December 2024 is a heartbreaking one, “Merry Christmas, Please Don’t Call.” In other words, Bleachers is asking that the person doesn’t try to “Merry Christmas” their way back into their life.
After the devastating (yet still upbeat) song, the concert only built on its previous momentum. Throughout the second half of the show, you could truly see the love and the equal appreciation the band has for each other.
As the show’s climax closed in, Antonoff teased the crowd with fan-favorite song “Rollercoaster.”
“You want ‘Rollercoaster’?” Antonoff winked, referring to the band’s first single from 2014, before ripping into the now-classic track. And just as the concert was about to end, the band performed the equally popular “I Wanna Get Better.”
Hands immediately went up and Antonoff invited fans to get on the shoulders of their neighbors. Close to 50 fans were up in the air.
The band closed out with “Stop Making This Hurt,” and exited the stage not so much as Bleachers, but with the raw energy and humility of an up-and-coming band on the streets of Boston.
The band will return on Wednesday for a second concert at MGM Music Hall.
Setlist for the Bleachers at MGM Music Hall, June 16, 2026:
- Sideways
- The Van
- Modern Girl
- Jesus Is Dead
- Wild Heart
- Everybody Lost Somebody
- Goodmorning
- Dirty Wedding Dress
- We Should Talk
- Chinatown
- Don’t Go Dark
- You and Forever
- Dream of Mickey Mantle
- Isimo
- Merry Christmas, Please Don’t Call
- Take You Out Tonight
- How Dare You Want More
- Rollercoaster
- Tiny Moves
- Don’t Take the Money
- Upstairs at Els
- I Wanna Get Better
- Stop Making This Hurt
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