Oftentimes, when I ask people if they know who Bruno Major is, most of their responses are “Bruno Mars?” Each time this happens, I awkwardly inform them that I was in fact not talking about Bruno Mars.
But in 2021, Major’s song “Nothing” went viral on TikTok, skyrocketing his popularity. Even when people around me don’t know who he is, they are likely to know this song.
On Saturday night at Roadrunner, fans filled the general assembly floor to the brim as Major made it to the stage for the first time in six years. During the concert, Major made his fans feel like family, bringing a whole new level of intimacy and fun to the show.
Major began his set with “The Show Must Go On,” the first track off his latest album, Columbo. The crowd screamed the lyrics and swayed to the beat as Major absolutely killed it on the guitar.
After performing his first couple of songs, Major played “The Most Beautiful Thing” and the entire crowd sang along to the tune, a beautiful love song directed to an unknown person.
“I don’t know who you are / But I’ll save you a seat / Hang my coat on a chair next to me,” Major and the crowd sang.
He finished the song with a long “I f—king love you Boston” in a Bostonian accent.
In between songs, Major recounted the stories that inspired each one. Right before playing “Tell Her,” a breakup song, he told the crowd not to worry because he ended up getting back together with the woman behind the song after she listened to it, proving that love really conquers all.
Major then sang “Home,” a ballad from his debut album. The song likely pierces into the hearts of many college students missing home. In the song, Major tells the story of a time when he was miles away from home and got the flu.
“Take me home, don’t spare the horses / Away to the silence I need,” he sang.
Major then started performing a set of what he called “terribly sad songs.” He made his way to the piano to play “A Strange Kind Of Beautiful.” Major said this song was inspired by composer Frédéric Chopin but that he “royally fucked it up.” Despite this statement, he still had the crowd completely entranced—so silent that you could hear a pin drop in the Roadrunner as the song ended.
The crowd erupted once more in cheers and Major remarked on how the silence in itself was a strange kind of beauty.
“There is nothing louder than a room full of people, completely silent,” he said.
At the end of the “terribly sad songs” section of the show, Major asked for song suggestions from the crowd. This interaction between artist and fans produced an increased familiarity for the rest of the set.
Somehow between the countless people screaming different songs, Bruno settled on two of his very popular songs “Old Fashioned” and “Second Time,” which he played as a mash-up.
“Nothing,” his most popular track on Spotify, was introduced with a small guitar strum intro as all the lights dimmed. When the first beat dropped, the audience erupted once more with an even newer energy.
“There’s not many people / I’d honestly say / I don’t mind losing to / But there’s nothing / Like doing nothing / With you,” he sang along with the crowd.
In tradition with his previous shows, Major played an upbeat and fun cover of “Shakey Ground” by The Temptations. This song, while completely different from his usual songs, was refreshing and thrilling as the entire venue danced.
“I have a curious habit for crashing cars,” Major said before his last song “Columbo.”
He explained that he finished writing Columbo as he sat on the side of the road drinking a bottle of whiskey after a car accident.
For his final song, Bruno played “We Were Never Really Friends,” and the entire crowd immediately started chanting his name even before he exited the stage.
After three full minutes of the crowd’s echoes, Bruno and his band came out again for two more songs. Bruno stood on stage with his guitar back in hand for what felt like minutes in anticipation of his next song “Easily,” one of his most famous songs. The entire audience went crazy and many of the couples in the room began singing to each other.
For the finale, Bruno fittingly played “The End,” as confetti shot out from all sides of the stage and people began exiting the music hall. Still, even after all the confetti had fallen from the ceiling, a huge number stayed right where they were, in front of the barricade to hopefully get the setlist.
