TUNE-YARDS
Tune-Yards, Terminal West, Atlanta, GA 9/25/25.
The energy inside Terminal West for Tune-Yards was unlike anything I’ve experienced there before – electric, immersive, and completely absorbed in the band’s performance. The night opened with Tre. Charles, whose passionate, often heart-wrenching songs immediately drew the room in. He joked that he was tugging at your heartstrings so Tune-Yards can build them back up, perfectly setting the stage. The crowd was so moved that they cheered him into an encore, and he delivered a slow, deliberate, and stunning cover of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.”
When Tune-Yards took the stage, the room transformed. Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner, the couple making up Tune-Yards, stood alone onstage but filled it as if they were an entire orchestra. Brenner anchored the sound with bass and synth, while Garbus darted among drums, percussion, ukulele, and keys, layering loops of instruments and vocals into towering, rhythmic builds. By the time they launched into “Look at Your Hands,” the audience was fully locked in, and the energy only escalated from there. During “Gangsta,” the crowd took over the vocals entirely, leaving Garbus smiling in surprise as the chorus roared on far longer than expected. “Water Fountain” and “How Big Is the Rainbow” drew similar energy, cementing the night as a communal celebration.
Garbus had described Atlanta shows as feeling like “a warm hug.” On Thursday, that warmth was undeniable – shared between band and audience, both walking away a little more charged, a little more connected.
Shot and Written by Alexa Kravitz
