Grandstand review: Stephen Sanchez has State Fair crowd swooning
One of the most unlikely pop stars of recent years turned the Grandstand into the swooniest place at the Minnesota State Fair on Saturday night.
Stephen Sanchez can thank TikTok for making his 2021 single “Until I Found You” a viral hit with more than 1 billion streams on Spotify alone. What made that success so unique is Sanchez’s style, which is firmly rooted in the pop music of the ’50s and early ’60s. He’s frequently compared to Roy Orbison and his remarkable debut album “Angel Face” sounds like a long-lost Phil Spector production.
Saturday, Sanchez leaned fully into his retro vibe and performed on the set of a faux television talk show, “The Connie Co Show.” With his terrific band dressed in dark suits, Sanchez transformed into a pre-rock teen idol, crooning into an old-fashioned microphone and striking a number of dramatic poses.
Drama — melodrama, even — is a big part of Sanchez’s appeal, at least to the kids on TikTok. Also important, his rich and expressive voice that makes even his lesser songs (“The Pool,” “Howling at Wolves”) appealing. Live, he hit all the same notes he did in the recording studio.
Oh, and Sanchez is just 21 and wrote nearly everything he played while still a teenager. It’s amazing a kid born in 2002 could so faithfully re-create the look and sound of several generations before him. The last artist to pull off such a feat? None other than Amy Winehouse.
Sanchez hasn’t been able to replicate the success of “Until I Found You,” which might explain the crowd of just 4,081. But those who did show up knew every song, with the possible exception of “Just Let Me Into Your Heart,” an unreleased track he debuted on Instagram in June.
“Evangeline,” “Doesn’t Do Me Any Good” and an epic “Be More” proved to be highlights in an evening full of them. In a nod to his inspirations, he offered two covers. During Paul Anka’s “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” he walked through the crowd in front of the stage, patting shoulders, shaking hands and ending by pulling out a few dance moves with a grinning woman. He also did justice to Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman.”
The talk show format, which included someone portraying the fictional Connie Co, started out cute, but grew a bit tiresome as the segments with Co tended to kill the momentum. But during an acoustic set, Sanchez broke down into what looked like real tears, showing actual emotions rarely seen from young musical performers. I can’t wait to see what Sanchez does next.
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