REVIEW: Still Woozy shines at sold-out Sinclair show

Still Woozy, known off-stage as Sven Gamsky, performed a sold-out concert at The Sinclair in Cambridge Tuesday night. Before the show a well-lit stage revealed a humble set-up, leaving the task of captivating the growing crowd to the California native’s performance alone.

The act opened with “Lucy,” a 2018 single that gained popularity after its feature on Spotify’s collection “POLLEN,” described by the digital music service as “a playlist beyond genre.”

Gamsky and his guitarist seemed to be in a contest to be the most unpredictable, each of them jerking and spinning with an impossible balance of chaos and harmony.

It became clear early on that the crowd was not a collection of curious music lovers watching a new act, but in fact a mob of Still Woozy fanatics. It was difficult to hear the music over the audience at times, and the crowd never missed a beat when Gamsky turned the microphone around to amplify their enthusiasm.

After playing a couple of crowd favorites, he introduced an unreleased song to the audience. Despite no one in the crowd knowing a single beat or lyric that was coming next, the room was captivated by the smooth melody.

As applause for the new single filled the space, Gamsky retreated to the back of the stage to grab a brown paper bag. When he returned to the microphone, he asked for the group’s opinion on Montreal-style bagels before revealing that the bag was, in fact, full of bagels he had brought from his show in Montreal Sunday night.

Gamsky then set up a giant game of ring toss for himself, asking everyone in the crowd to hold up one finger high in the air before tossing the bagels into the crowd and to a few audience members.

Continuing his interaction with the crowd, Gamsky presented them with an option: a Hank Williams cover or a “punk song.” This choose-your-own-adventure approach caught the audience off guard, and it was clear that the hundreds of concert-goers were not going to reach a consensus.

Gamsky gave in and played both — which was likely the plan all along — but the crowd seemed to appreciate his playfulness. The Hank Williams song he chose to cover was “Angel of Death,” a somber ballad during which Gamsky descended onto the floor to serenade the crowd.

The cover was moving, but Woozy’s original music got a livelier response from the crowd. If his song could outdo a legend like Hank Williams, he must be doing something right.

The mood shifted quickly as the band moved on to cover Tameka “Tiny” Harris’ “What the F–k You Gon’ Do.” The act mostly consisted of the performer and audience yelling the song’s title back and forth at each other, but it was entertaining to watch nonetheless.

As the show continued, Gamsky’s excited feet matched every shift in tempo with a change of pace, jumping between sides of the stage with every line. He played his most successful single, “Goodie Bag,” along with “Habit,” a newer song in line with his unique electric, indie pop style.

Gamsky also covered Connie Converse, an artist from the 1950s who suddenly disappeared before her discography came to fame, and Mac Demarco, a well-known indie rock artist that often attracts crowds resembling the Still Woozy show’s aesthetic.

After two more upbeat songs and infinitely more dancing that might better be called seizing, Gamsky crouched down to give some high fives and thank everyone for coming out to take in his work.

Before he could make it off the stage, of course a chant calling for an encore was booming throughout the room. He smiled, made his way back to the microphone and played the opening song, “Lucy,” one last time. He made sure to give the audience plenty of chances to sing into the microphone, too.

Afterward, Gamsky thanked everyone in the crowd again and made his way out of sight. The mass of people left staring at an empty stage lingered for a moment, as if to soak in the night which had collectively surpassed each of their expectations.

Gamsky’s live adaptation of bedroom pop tunes is proof that dreamy melodies can be enjoyed in the midst of a pulsing crowd just as well as they could through earbuds on a cloudy day. The crowd’s excitement and the band’s passion brought an energy to the songs that is otherwise absent from the singles’ mellow recordings.