A magical night with Model/Actriz in Nashville

The year was 2017 and, in typical music-discovery fashion, I heard a really cool song come through my Spotify suggestions called “Matador” by a band called Model/Actriz. I saved it to my new music playlist and didn’t really think much about it beyond the fact that it was a really cool song.

Flash forward to 2023 and Spotify, in its infinite musical-algorithm wisdom, suggested their full-length debut album Dogsbody to me. I guess somehow they remembered this one song I had saved many years ago and decided to follow up after six years…? For all the negative things that can be said about Spotify, I am eternally grateful they reminded me who Model/Actriz was, because Dogsbody was my absolute favorite album of that year; I instantly became obsessed with the way this band makes music.

With repetitive rhythmic beats and sexy vocals, I truly could not stop listening.

Then, I saw they were featured in Rolling Stone and felt like this band was about to hit it big. My one mistake with this band came in 2024, when they were playing Nashville; for some reason, they were booked at one of the worst venues in the city. I won’t name the venue, because I do appreciate anyone trying to put on shows, but I was so disappointed with where they were playing that I chose not to go. Unfortunately for me, my friends who did go said it was one of the greatest shows they had ever seen — despite the accommodations. I would never make that mistake again.

Saturday night at The Blue Room began with an up-and-coming L.A. band called Touching Ice. Their music was strange, to put it mildly: heavy techno beats with very soft female vocals layered over the top. I couldn’t really hear much over the heavy bass and insanely loud guitar, but I am determined to give them another chance on Spotify soon. I really cannot make a proper assessment of the band, considering it all the reverberating noise.

Model/Actriz, on the other hand, was nothing short of magical.

Vocalist Cole Haden walked onstage in a homemade dress, put on some lipstick, and launched into the first song “Vespers” from their latest album, Pirouette. Cole is probably one of the most energetic front people I have seen in a very long time; if he wasn’t dancing and spinning onstage, he was in the crowd dancing with fans during random songs.

I have also attended many shows at Blue Room, including some huge bands, and have never seen an audience go as crazy as they did with Model/Actriz. Entire waves of bodies were jumping up and down, screaming with such excitement that I thought my eardrums would rupture from the audience’s sound alone.

I am getting older and it’s not always easy to dance, mosh, and move during shows without feeling extreme pain, but I risked a lot of bodily discomfort to make sure I kept my hips moving the whole show for this one. Model/Actriz is truly one of the best bands I have ever seen in concert and I highly recommend either streaming any of their albums or catching one of their shows on their current tour. Some bands just have that extra something that sets them apart from everyone else… and Model/Actriz is 100% that band.

Photography by Derek Jones

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