Sofar shows have always attracted major talent at various points in their budding careers. Here are five notable artists who’ve performed at Sofar shows in the past, along with links to their awesome performances.
Lily Allen
Across her 20-year career, Lily Allen has amassed a long list of accolades (9 BRIT Award nominations, one win; one Grammy nomination; and one Mercury Prize nomination). It’s no wonder: her voice, genre-blending, and songwriting abilities have made her stand out in the music industry, dating all the way back to 2006’s Alright, Still and the smash hit single “Smile”.
This London crowd was lucky enough to witness her artistry first-hand, with a cover of Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” back in October 2018. This was part of our 8-city event to celebrate the release of the Queen/Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, and Allen appeared just before heading out on a massive global tour to promote her fourth studio album No Shame.
James Bay
The British singer-songwriter shot to stardom in 2014 with his song “Hold Back the River” (later included on his debut album Chaos and the Calm). But did you know he played a Sofar before he received global attention?
Cast your mind back to 2013, when on a cold January day in London, a 22-year old Bay performed his song “Stealing Cars”. “It’s not about stealing cars,” he nervously joked. Did the people in the room know he’d be a big star? Just listen to the performance and you’ll know: his talent was apparent even back then.
Cut to just last month (and three albums later) when Bay made a surprise appearance at Sofar London at the Francis Crick Institute – in the middle of an exhibition about the human brain.
Zevia
Named one of People Magazine’s Emerging Artists last year, Zevia has only gained more traction in the music industry since. Audiences all over the world connect with her music, which is being recognized for addressing mental health, such as on 2022’s we’re all sad here.
In May, Zevia performed at Sofar Los Angeles at the Village Studios and captivated the crowd with her new single “surrender”. It describes those moments when life gets to be too much and we feel we may want to give in.
Andy Shauf
Last year. the Canadian musician released his eighth LP, the concept album Norm, to widespread acclaim. Pitchfork called it “his most interesting and beguiling” album yet, and Variety said “the album unfurls into an anthology of dark, interconnected tales of loss, unrequited love and casual brushes with the divine”. With monthly Spotify listeners swelling to over 640,000, it seems his audience agrees.
Shauf swung by Sofar Los Angeles in 2015 to debut a track off what would become his fourth album, The Party. The song is called “The Worst of You” and it’s about a guy trying to find his girlfriend at a party and jumping to all the wrong conclusions.
Oh He Dead
Indie funk outfit Oh He Dead came up in the Washington D.C. music scene and hit their stride with last year’s album Pretty. Now they’ve acquired over 300k Spotify streams and are out touring Pretty and their upcoming follow-up Ugly.
Oh He Dead’s sound has been described as “a combination of Stevie Nicks and Tracy Chapman” by radio host Kojo Nnamdi and “infectious and soulful” by the Washington Post. We couldn’t agree more.
The band stopped by Sofar Miami back in May for a hot performance of their song “Lonely Sometimes”.
Who knows which noteworthy artists will play Sofar shows near you? Grab tickets today to discover the next big artist!
