From music halls to sold out arenas, keshi's rapid rise within a year
The American singer-songwriter recently played a sold-out stop at Toronto's Coca-Cola Coliseum
(Photo credit: Kenji Chong)
When I look at keshi’s rise over the last year, it really is nothing short of amazing.
Last May, I had a chance to catch his sold-out show at Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall, with tickets reselling for over $250.00 each. That venue only holds about 1,500 people at capacity, and he had a line-up out the door of people trying to get tickets for his show.
Now a year later, his audience has grown FIVE times the size. Just this past Sunday, keshi played a sold out show in front of 7,500 people at Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum. What an upgrade!
A lot can change in the span of a year, but even I have been quite impressed with how quickly keshi has grown over the pandemic.
I started listening to his music in the middle of the pandemic. After all, his chill, moody R&B vibes was just what I needed as I spent my days isolated from the rest of the world.
keshi, born Casey Luong, is a Vietnamese-American singer-songwriter from Sugarland, Texas. Before pursuing music full time, he worked as an oncology nurse for two years. But during that time, he started posting music on a Soundcloud page. His dreamy vocals, combined with lo-fi beats and guitar, quickly helped him gain attention and a following. And in 2019, he left his nursing career and signed with Island Records.
Over the years, keshi’s singles including “beside you”, “skeletons” and “drunk” have attracted millions of listeners upon release. However, it was the release of his debut album GABRIEL in March 2022 that helped his musical career reach new heights.
After the release of GABRIEL, keshi toured around the world to promote the album. The tour was so successful that he’s since decided to hit the road once again in North America and Europe — this time in much bigger musical venues.
While I have not always been the biggest fan of Coca-Cola Coliseum’s sound and acoustics, I was intrigued to see how keshi would fare in an arena five times the size of his last show in Toronto.
It was during the show that I discovered this was not his first time at the venue, having opened for LANY in 2021. Even keshi couldn’t believe that he was now headlining a concert in front of 7,500 people.
“I remember walking down. Holy F***k. What the f**k did I sign up for?” keshi recalls of his time as an opening act.
“I am one person, there is no way I can fill up the stage. I was so nervous. The crowd was not mine. I don’t even know how I can articulate how surreal this is.”
But now years later, the work has paid off.
“This time we’re sold out motherf**kers! Let’s f**cking go!!!!!!” keshi yelled.
As someone who had the opportunity to see keshi promote his album GABRIEL just a year ago, I was delighted that he spent a bit more time giving his OG fans songs from his previous EPs bandaids, THE REAPER and always.
One of the highlights of the show was when keshi asked the audience to sing “drunk” along with him, to see if we could beat the loudness of the crowd in Washington, D.C. (We tied, boo.) However, there’s nothing like the simple joy of sitting in a venue just to hear someone sing with nothing else but a guitar. It’s all the more heartening to see everyone else around singing along to all the words.
As is a tradition at every show, keshi also paid a lot of fan service, taking his shirt off for the crowd.
“I’ve seen to have made the dangerous precedent that I will take it off for any crowd that gets loud enough,” he said amidst cheers.
“The truth of the matter today is that I am simply very very hot on stage despite the fact that we’re at a hockey rink.”
Sure, keshi. ;)
Compared to his last show at the Toronto Danforth Music Hall, I was also happier to hear keshi interact with the crowd more and share backstories about his own life this time around. In one instance, he talked about fighting with his father who did not understand why he would pursue music full-time.
“It’s funny because when I started doing shows and whatnot, he said ‘Go get it. I’m sorry I was wrong,’” he said.
“Prove em wrong!!! I still love my dad though.”
From an artist who started his music career on SoundCloud, it’s incredibly inspiring to see someone like Keshi thriving in the music industry. It’s also nice to see a positive outcome for an Asian American who chose to leave a career in healthcare for something more creative like music.
While keshi may have never aimed to be an Asian American role model, it’s no surprise that he’s gained a large following comprised of fellow Asian millennials and Gen Zers.
However, that has often come with stereotypes. Many have described keshi’s songs as the perfect break-up music, the kind of songs you’d play to get over a toxic ex who has done you wrong. As a result, there have been countless TikTok videos of people poking fun of Asian sadbois and baby girls for listening to keshi’s music. It’s almost as if liking his songs are a personality trait.
Having just left the concert, I can agree that I have never seen so many Asian youth congregated in one place in a long time since the Night it Up! market in Markham, Ontario. Sure, it’s humourous to poke fun at the stereotypes…even laugh or feel attacked at the jokes. But keshi seemed to have embraced all of it, even asking the crowd if they believe in true love or not. He even made a joke out of it, saying, “I would not be at a keshi show if you believe true love exists.” My friend and I had a good laugh at that.
But whether I am an Asian baby girl or not, who can blame the cathartic nature of keshi’s music, after all?
Honestly, it’s nice to see Asians championing an artist like keshi. As someone in my early 30s, I barely remember a time when Asians had a western artist that somewhat resembled us. Now the world is finally embracing the talents of artists or colour for their vocal and songwriting talent. That’s why I can’t wait to see what more is in store for keshi’s future in the next couple of years.
In other news…
The Harry Styles concert becomes a K-pop meet and greet
Harry Styles played in Seoul over the weekend. So naturally, the event means a large unofficial gathering of the K-pop industry. As an OG One Direction girlie, this is the crossover I never knew I needed. Harry Styles and One Direction are the blueprint for boy bands in the 2010s. It's no surprise then, that so many idols came out to watch his show! Just imagine my delight seeing members of BTS taking a photo with Harry sunbaenim. Or Blackpink’s Rosé next to Harry oppa? We love to see it! Other celebrities in attendance include ATEEZ’s Wooyoung, Woodz, Park Hyung-sik, Jeon Somi and Enhypen’s Jay, Jake and Ni-ki.
TWICE’s Chaeyoung apologizes for wearing a T-shirt with swastika
TWICE’s Chaeyoung has apologized after wearing a t-shirt featuring a swastika. The shirt in the since-deleted photo on Instagram had a graphic of Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious wearing a T-shirt with the symbol, which was used as an emblem of the German Nazi party.
“Hello, this is Chaeyoung from TWICE. I sincerely apologize regarding the Instagram post. I didn’t correctly recognize the meaning of the tilted swastika in the t-shirt I wore,” she said in a post on Instagram.
“I deeply apologize for not thoroughly reviewing it, causing concern. I will pay absolute attention in the future to prevent any situation similar from happening again. Sincerely apologize again.”
Chaeyoung has been facing online criticism since Saturday when she was also seen wearing a shirt with a large Q on the front, designed with a U.S. flag pattern and the words “we go all”, which is part of the slogan used for the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon. Chaeyoung has yet to apologize for wearing this particular shirt.
Tomorrow X Together headlines Lollapalooza, NewJeans, The Rose, DPR Live and DPR Ian to perform
K-pop is hitting the music festival circuit once again as Tomorrow X Together becomes the first K-pop group to headline Lollapalooza this coming August. This will mark the second time the boy group will be performing at the event.
Other performers at the festival will include NewJeans, The Rose, DPR Ian and DPR Live. I am so so happy for NewJeans! It hasn’t even been a year since their debut and they’re already making history. From luxury brand ambassadorships to chart-topping hits, now the girls can add music festival debut to their list of achievements.
Other artists on this lineup I’m excited about include Rina Sawayama, beabadoobee and Niki! I am just excited to see major festivals embracing Asian artists.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Accountability is important to me, so please address corrections and concerns by sending me an email at bunnipopnewsletter@gmail.com. Continue the conversation by following Bunni Pop on Instagram and Twitter.
The best part of being a fan of any artist is watching them succeed and reach their dreams. How cool that keshi sold out that venue after being an opener there a couple years back!
As always, there's so much going on for Korean artists, but also just Asian artists in general. SO happy to see the growing representation at many festivals around the US this year!