Glaive was obviously happy to be home.
In the middle of a 34-city tour that will take him all over the States and then Europe in the Fall, the 18-year-old breakthrough star is on a fast, upward trajectory. After all, the artist Glaive (real name: Ash Blue Gutierrez) just started making music during Covid.
At the age of 16, in 2021, with the help of Soundcloud, the hyperpop artist broke through, big time, catching the eyes and ears of many, including reputable music critics for the NY Times, Faded, and Pitchfork — all leading to a deal with Interscope Records.
It was a special night in North Carolina.
The historic Orange Peel wasn’t sold out but the place was packed.
Very comfortable vibe, huge fan keeping everyone cool, not a big drinking crowd, lots of under 21 kids. Glaive came on stage at 9:15 and played until 10:30pm.
He spoke often to the crowd.
“I wrote this song in my bed in 2021,” he paused for reflection, “in Henderson, which is about a 20-minute drive from here.”
Glaive then erupted into one of his many electric, crowd pleasing 3-minute anthems.
Glaive Comes Home
His songs speak to the crowd, an Appalachian spinoff of Euphoria — they are jumping around frenetically, the bass booming, the old wooden floor of The Orange Peel shaking.
For a Tuesday night in August it’s a vibe.
“Holy fuck!” Glaive exclaims. A woman up front handed him a wad of green paper money. “How much is this?” he asked himself, fanning out a huge wad of cash, likely singles, a gift from a fan as if he was a stripper from the ATL not the AVL.
Never seen that before.
And Glaive jumped into another track.
And the room exploded.
“I feel so fucking good!”
For his last song (Minnesota is a Place that Exists) he jumped into the crowd and sang with his fans circling him around the room, cameras on, everyone singing along. He made his rounds through the whole place and it was cool. We took a shitty video..
After the song he made it back on stage.
“Fuck yeah!” he looked at the crowd “Asheville has never been the same.”
and that was the night ..
.. as the lines at the merch booth grew into a slinky caterpillar. .
