Robyn + Róyskopp Rock Pier 97

Last night was awesome!  My buddy Kyle and I ventured into NYC to check out Robyn and Róyskopp at the brand new concert stage at Pier 97 on the West Side and it was a night of pure fun.  Though the show wasn't nearly as good as the one I saw at Radio City three years ago, the beautiful and comfortable summer evening and the setting more than made up for it.

Pier 97

Pier 97 is the newest concert venue to hit the New York City stage.  Located within the confines of Hudson River Park at the end of 57th Street, the place has partially filled the void left behind by Roseland Ballroom, which closed its doors for good earlier in the year.  The venue is a nice spot for summer concert viewing, with the picturesque views of the city behind the stage and the Hudson River providing a nice backdrop.

The pier is just that, a large concrete structure jutting out into the river, and concession stands offering food, drink and merchandise line both sides all along its length, with a bar area towards the back.  Being there is reminiscent of being at an outdoor fair, only there's some major concert happenings to be had as well. Along with Robyn and Róyskopp, the venue will be hosting New Zealand songstress Lorde on September 14th and hot rapper Iggy Azalea on September 26th.

The Show

Though tickets stated a showtime of 6 p.m., that wasn't really the case.  Concerts at the pier do have earlier showtimes, probably due to local ordinances, but still an 8 'clock start, which was around the time the Norweigan duo hit the stage, is plenty enough to be finished by the mandatory 10 p.m.  

Admittedly, I knew nothing much about Róyskopp before their collaborations with Robyn, and neither did much of the crowd. The electronica/dance duo put on a half-hour set of pretty darned good dance tunes before the star of the evening hit the stage.  That's when the standing room only crowd started to rush forward to get a better view of the action.

As I stated above, this show wasn't nearly as good as the one at Radio City in 2011, and that's because it wasn't a tour in support of the hugely popular Body Talk EP's like that one was, though the songs from that album that she did perform were the ones that got the most response, of course.  As is her way, Robyn entered the stage without the fanfare of your typical diva, simply segueing from Róyskopp's final number into her own Be Mine.

From there, the singer, who sounded absolutely dead-on, went into a couple of new songs, hopefully from a forthcoming album, greatest hits and tunes from the latest Do It Again project with her stage mates, which was what she was there to promote.  There wasn't a lot of interaction with the audience like last time, but there was plenty of energy coming from the singer who no doubt is well aware and very appreciative of the rabidness of her fan base, who reveled in every move and every note.

Highlights for me included the funky new tune, Work It Out, the Body Talk smashes Call Your Girlfriend, Stars 4 Ever, and Indestructible and the finale, the title song to Do It Again.  The crowd favorite, however, was surely the singer's best loved song, Dancing On My Own, to which Robyn held out her mike as the audience serenaded her on the chorus.  

All in all, concert goers left Pier 97 last night with smiles on their faces, as did Kyle and I.  Now I'm really looking forward to when she comes round again to promote the next project, which hopefully will be out very soon.  Then we'll just do it again...