What Is It Like to See underscores Live?
A solo hyperpop set fronting a wall of memes and synced smiley-face light sticks, where the floor is for dancing, not standing, and every night ends with the whole room running in circles into one last mosh.
What to Know Before You Go
- 1Come to dance, not to stand.
This is a pop and electronic show built around beat drops. The whole room moves, and the "get up and dance" energy reads as welcoming rather than intimidating, even if you usually just foot-tap at rock shows.
- 2The screen is the spectacle.
She performs mostly solo in front of a wall-sized video feed running graphics, flashing colors, and memes cut to every drop. Do not wait for a full band. The screen and the production carry it.
- 3Get in for the cold open.
Every night starts with April Harper Grey singing backstage on the big screen before she runs out for the first song. You want to be on the floor for it, not in the lobby.
- 4Learn the closer.
The last song turns into a floor-wide running-in-circles moment that collapses into a mosh on the chorus. It is the payoff of the whole night.
- 5You have to call the encore.
Chant "One more!" after the main set like everyone else, and do not bail for the merch line the second it ends or you will miss the encore starting.
- 6Umru is worth being early for.
The DJ opener is a scene peer, not a warm-up to skip; the room already sings along to his set.
- 7Heads up for fall 2026.
She canceled her own fall headline dates to open for Charli XCX in arenas, so that set is short and a very different, bigger-room experience than the club headline show.
At a Glance
- Songs Per Show
- 17 to 19
- Costume Changes
- 0
- Setlist Variety
- Mostly fixed arc, occasional swaps
- Punctuality
- DJ opener first; no late reputation
- Venue Type
- Clubs and ballrooms
- Career Shows
- 151+
- Touring Since
- 2018
What It's Actually Like
The Video Screen Is the Show
underscores performs essentially solo, and the wall-sized video screen behind her is the focal point, not a backdrop. It runs sleek graphics, flashing colors, and memes cut to every beat drop, and at the Regency Ballroom it turned the room "into something closer to a packed nightclub." You end up watching the screen as much as the stage: during the unreleased "Unlimited Love," pixelated pink visuals matched the glitchy, candy-coated sound, and during "Do It" she danced in perfect sync with two silhouettes on the screen so it looked like she had backup dancers. There is one live body dancing in front of a moving wall of light, and that combination is the spectacle.
It's a Dance Show, Not a Stand-and-Watch One
The single most repeated note from people who go is that this plays like a pop show you dance to, not a rock show you stand at. At the 9:30 Club in Washington DC, one attendee who mostly hits rock shows put the difference plainly: at a rock show the non-moshers just stand, but "for a pop show like this, you can just get up and dance, and that felt so much more accepted." The hyperpop songs land live as huge choruses to sing plus drops made for moshing, and at the Regency Ballroom the wooden floor was physically shaking and bouncing under the crowd. Expect to move, and expect to leave sweaty.
“I used to come to this venue when I was a kid. It was all these dubstep shows, and we would get in the pit and we would smoke a non-nicotine vape.”
AutoTune Over Dense Production, and She Barely Talks
Grey's voice is heavily processed live, drenched in AutoTune, and reviewers say it "sounded great over the dense production" rather than being exposed by it. She speaks rarely between songs, and when she does it is short and genuine, usually in near-total darkness before the programmed lighting for the next track kicks in. It is not a chatty, story-driven night. The default mode is Grey dancing across the stage, but she reliably breaks out real instruments for a few songs: a keyboard intro to "Lovefield," and an electric guitar for the rock-leaning "Spoiled Little Brat" and "Bodyfeeling." Those two or three live-instrument moments are the ones that break the club rhythm, and they are the ones people single out.
The Encore Is Fan-Summoned and Ends in a Running Mosh
The main set closes on "Wish U Well," and the encore is genuinely called up by the crowd rather than automatic. At the 9:30 Club the room started shouting "One more!" the moment the main set ended, which prompted the encore of kimj's "1-800-FUCKOFF" and then "Music." That closer, her ode to the power of songs, reliably sends the floor "running around in circles before erupting into one final massive mosh pit during the chorus." The night is engineered to end sweaty and euphoric on that one song, so give yourself room and do not get pinned at the rail for it.
The Crowd Is Young, Queer, and All-In
The audience skews young and is described over and over as a mostly queer, alternative room, and it gives back what one writer called "feral energy." It is also emotionally wider than a pure dance party: at the sold-out Elsewhere show in Brooklyn, the older Wallsocket material had the whole room "singing about death and pain" one minute and slamming into the stage the next. The recurring word people use afterward is simply "fun." A student-radio reviewer called the DC show "by far the most fun I've ever had at a concert" and handed it 5 out of 5.
Galleria Tour (2026)
The North American chapter of the Galleria Tour is underscores' biggest and best-documented run to date, behind her 2026 album U, with 23 shows logged on setlist.fm across clubs and ballrooms and multiple sold-out dates. The tour name pays off hardest in her hometown: the run's closer at the Regency Ballroom sits a few miles from the Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco, where Grey grew up, and the crowd cheered every Bay Area reference.
The Set, Cold Open to Running-Mosh Close
The show opens with Grey singing backstage on the big screen (the SoundCloud-only "Point A," the opener at all 21 tracked shows) before she runs out as "Locals (Girls like us)" starts. A few high-energy older songs give way to a set that is mostly U material. The peaks: "Hollywood Forever" and "Tell Me (U Want It)" as big singalong-and-mosh moments; "The Peace," the Imogen-Heap-inspired centerpiece, performed on a dark stage under a single yellow LED; "harvest sky," her collaboration with French artist Oklou, stretched out with an extended dance section; and the "Do It" silhouette trick. It closes on "Wish U Well," then the fan-summoned encore.
Umru Opens, and He's Part of the Scene
DJ Umru (Jaan Umru Rothenberg) opened the North American dates with an original set that shifted from atmospheric to heavy beats, pulling from the same queer electronic-pop world as underscores. This is not a warm-up act the room ignores: fans sang along to tracks like Ninajirachi's "Delete" and Kim Petras' "Pop Sound" during his set. He has opened underscores shows going back to the Wallsocket era, so treat the door time as the real start.
Then She Canceled Fall to Open for Charli XCX
The unusual wrinkle for late 2026: Grey canceled her own fall headline shows to open every date of Charli XCX's Music, Fashion, Film arena tour, which launches September 11 in Philadelphia. That is a very different underscores experience from the club headline show. Expect a short opener-length set with trimmed production in a 15,000-plus-seat arena, in front of a larger crowd that did not all come for her. If you want the full thing, the club headline show is it; the Charli XCX slot is a compact arena taster.
Going to a Show?
Seeing underscores on this tour? Add the date to Concerts Remembered now. You'll have the setlist and your own notes from the night instead of trying to remember it a year later.
underscores · artist guide
underscores crowd traditions
Five documented rituals. One need you to bring something. The other four happen to you.
Bring something
U-Lights: The Synced Smiley Light Sticks
This tour onlyGalleria Era
Fans carry smiley-face U-Light sticks that sync to the music and change color on the drops, turning the floor into part of the show.
Just show up
The "One More!" Encore Chant
PermanentThe encore is genuinely summoned by the crowd chanting "One more!" rather than being an automatic scripted return.
The "Music" Running Mosh
PermanentThe closer "Music" sends the floor literally running in circles before collapsing into a huge mosh pit on the chorus.
A Queer, Found-Family Scene
PermanentThe crowd is heavily queer and alternative, and the shows function as a scene reunion, sometimes with official afterparties.
Bay Area Hometown Energy
PermanentAt San Francisco shows the hometown crowd roars for every local reference, since Grey grew up in the city.
Concerts Remembered Artist Index · traditions documented from fan communities, tour reports and press · reviewed August 2026
Merch
What's Exclusive
The signature item of the U and Galleria era is the U-Light, the smiley-face light stick that syncs to the show and changes color on the drops. It was sold bundled with tickets and reportedly sold out fast, which makes it the one thing to sort before the show rather than at the stand. Standard tour merch (tees, plus physical CDs and vinyl of U) is sold at the venue and through the official store. No consistent city-specific poster or variant pattern turned up.
The Strategy
The official store at underscores.store is the reliable fallback for standard items like shirts and physical media if you miss the venue stand or something sells out on the road. The exception is the U-Lights: because they were a ticket-bundled item that went quickly, treat them as a pre-show purchase. Fans have reported full merch hauls in the range of $135 to about $165 at Galleria stops, so budget accordingly if you want a shirt plus a physical copy. One practical warning: at the 9:30 Club a fan who left for the merch line the moment the main set ended is exactly who missed the start of the "One More!" chant and the encore.
underscores · merch
Is the merch at a underscores show worth queueing for?
Not what it costs. The price card answers that. This is whether the queue is optional, which has different inputs.
- Can you get it later?
- Shirts yes, U-Lights no
- When do you queue?
- Grab U-Lights early
Concerts Remembered Artist Index · exclusivity, quality and queue behaviour compressed from this guide · reviewed August 2026
underscores · tour history
underscores went from clubs to theaters in 5 years
Room size by tour. A bar spanning two rows is a tour that played both.
| Year | Tour | Room size |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Fishmonger era | Clubs |
| 2023 | town hall USA / Wallsocket era | Clubs |
| 2026 | Galleria Tour | Theaters and clubs |
Concerts Remembered Artist Index · 3 documented tours · room size as described in each tour entry · reviewed August 2026
Tour History
Galleria Tour
Logged on setlist.fm.
town hall USA / Wallsocket era
underscores first toured *Wallsocket* (2023) alone onstage, singing over and steering the tracks herself.
Fishmonger era
The breakout.
Frequently Asked Questions
Expect a mostly-solo hyperpop set built around a wall-sized video feed of memes and graphics, with a crowd that dances and moshes on the beat drops rather than standing and watching. April Harper Grey sings over dense, AutoTune-heavy production, picks up a guitar or keyboard for a few numbers, and keeps the talking short and dark between songs.
Headline shows on the Galleria Tour run about 17 to 19 songs, roughly a 17-song main set plus a two-song encore. Nineteen of 21 tracked shows had an encore, so a couple of nights ran shorter without one. As a Charli XCX opener in fall 2026 the count drops to a standard half-hour opening slot.
There is no notoriously-late reputation. Shows run with a DJ opener (Umru on the 2026 Galleria dates), and the headline set follows his set, so plan around the door time and the opener rather than expecting a long wait. Exact clock times vary by venue.
Mostly no. On the *U* and Galleria era she performs largely solo over backing tracks in front of the video wall, stepping to a keyboard for "Lovefield" and an electric guitar for "Spoiled Little Brat" and "Bodyfeeling." The exception was the 2024 town hall USA run, when she toured *Wallsocket (Director's Cut)* with her first-ever live band, a drummer and guitarist included.
Yes, especially if you want a hyperpop show that actually functions as a dance party. Fans who came in as skeptics or from other scenes routinely leave calling it one of the most fun shows they have been to, and the dance-don't-just-stand energy makes it an easy first show if you are new to the world of hyperpop peers like [Slayyyter](/artists/slayyyter). The catch is scale: for now this is a club and ballroom experience, so the rooms are small and the sold-out dates go fast.
The signature moments are "Music," the closer; "The Peace," performed under a single yellow LED as the emotional centerpiece; and "harvest sky," her Oklou collaboration with an extended dance section. "Hollywood Forever" and "Tell Me (U Want It)" are the big singalong peaks, and "Spoiled Little Brat" is where she straps on a guitar.
The current era is the video-wall, dance-floor version of underscores, leaning on the album *U*, the synced U-Light crowd, and a mostly-solo screen production. Her earlier Wallsocket touring was rawer and more rock-leaning, including a 2024 stretch with an actual live band and stripped, lightbulb-lit staging. If you saw the band-era Wallsocket shows, the *U* era is a deliberately more electronic, club-shaped night.
underscores Links
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This guide is based on fan accounts, touring data, and community discussion. Claims we can’t source are left out rather than estimated, and the charts render only where the sample is large enough to trust. It is not sponsored by or affiliated with underscores.
Cite this guide
Concerts Remembered, "underscores," concertsremembered.app/artists/underscores, updated August 2026.