ALBANY, NY – Tiktok’s favorite singer-songwriter, Ricky Montgomery, captivated a packed house here at Empire Live, bringing an electric energy to the 518. He was amplified by hundreds of zealous superfans, making it an unforgettable stop on his “One Rick to Rule Them All Tour.”
The L.A.-based indie star has had quite an unusual rise to fame, spending his teens in the Midwest emo scene, later moving back to L.A. and fronting indie rock band The Honeysticks. He released his solo debut album Montgomery Ricky in 2016, and it went largely unnoticed. It took another four years until “Mr. Loverman,” from that release went viral on Tiktok, and then everything for Montgomery suddenly hit the big time. After an intense bidding war, he signed with Warner Records in 2020.
But after gaining most of his following during the COVID-19 lockdown, Montgomery didn’t get to properly tour behind his songs until 2022. So for many fans at the Albany show, these songs were still new, and the crowd was excited to hear it all.
He played all of the old hits, material from the new album, Rick, and even a single from his old band, The Honeysticks. It could’ve felt strange that most of the songs he played were so much older, but they somehow still felt new and relevant, eight years later. The set flowed flawlessly from old songs to recent and even unreleased tracks, with seamless transition and the perfect rises and falls.
Overall, the set was incredibly dynamic. Montgomery opened with “Line Without a Hook,” a popular, high-energy song the whole crowd was ready to sing along to, and then carried that electric atmosphere throughout the set until he brought it back down, only to raise it again with a floor-shaking rendition of “This December” as a second encore. He seemed hyper-attuned to the audience’s energy and intensity, and vice versa.
A few songs before the first encore, at the exact moment when you’re primed for a change of pace, Montgomery hit the crowd with an emotional ballad, “My Heart Is Buried in Venice.” It was such a tender moment with the audience; his earnest delivery of this beautiful song will be an experience I’m sure the crowd and I will not soon forget.
Because of Montgomery’s prolific presence on his socials, the crowd was familiar with his gimmicks and typical show quirks; when it came time to rowdily jump during, “This December,” they were already ready. This connection didn’t come by accident; because of how public his life has been on social media through his viral songs and content creation to promote his music, Montgomery’s fanbase has come to know him in a personal, and sometimes slightly para-social way. These were no casual fans; the crowd knew him, and it felt as though he knew them, too.
I talked with folks who had been lining up for hours to get a spot at the barricade for the show. They had found Montgomery online and became obsessed with him, his humor, his onstage gimmicks, and his music, of course. These fans knew every word, and shouted them louder than you could hear the music at times. The tour is proof enough: Fan culture is back in a big way; even in indie music. Then again, with the proliferation of social media and the necessity for artists to commodify their image to promote themselves online, there are less and less casual music fans, period. For better or for worse, these superfans are here to stay.
Speaking of said superfans, Montgomery also played an unreleased track (that may or may not have previously been called “Ed Sheeran” and can no longer be legally referenced as such), fittingly called, “Superfan.” Though it was unreleased, Montgomery sang the song on nearly every stop of the tour, and fans somehow (through seeing videos online) knew the words enough to sing along. The song masterfully encapsulates the complicated relationship dynamic with his audience, and the trials and triumphs of Internet fame and his overnight popularity.
This new track is further proof that the undeniable hit sound Montgomery made in 2016 is alive and well. Eight years later, Ricky Montgomery continues to consistently match his success and make music that cohesively fits this creative, yet also classic sound. This surely isn’t short lived Internet fame; with this successful new album, major label backing, and an incredible new song, Ricky Montgomery will continue to soar, and his superfans are ready for the ride.
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Ricky Montgomery – 10/13/24 at Empire Live, Albany, NY (Photos by Catherine Windover)
