“Jonah Marais Sept. 4” reads the marquee above the crowd waiting outside Gramercy Theater. Excited fans waited impatiently, mingling with one another as the city buzzed past them.
Marais is an independent pop singer-songwriter who got his big break by joining the pop boyband Why Don’t We in 2016. The band unfortunately cancelled its then upcoming tour and announced a hiatus in 2022 over ongoing legal battles with its former management company.
Marais has since had time to focus on himself and find his own sound. In June he started releasing his own music and came out with “The Jonah Marais Mixtape,” his first EP.
In June he started releasing his own music and came out with “The Jonah Marais Mixtape,” his first EP. He is currently touring his recent releases on his first solo tour entitled The Young and Optimistic tour, the seventh stop of which is New York City.
Marais has chosen multiple small artists to open for him on this tour. The openers for his New York show were Gabi Sklar and Grant Landis.
Sklar sparkled on stage in knee-high red boots and a leopard print jersey. This was a special hometown show for the New York-based singer-songwriter. Sklar’s latest single, “Pardon My French,” has accumulated over 5 million streams on Spotify.
Sklar left an impression on the crowd after she asked the crowd to yell back relationship red flags they have, as she introduced her song about red flags, “Oh No!”
The next opener was Landis, a singer-songwriter from Missouri. His most popular songs include “mango,” “Next Flight Home” and “can’t rescue u,” which have accumulated millions of streams.
He shared that this was the first show he’d played in three years. Landis stole the hearts of the audience when he covered Justin Bieber’s “That Should Be Me” on guitar.
As the lights turned back on, the drummer and guitarist could be seen and the intro to “TWISTED LULLABY” by Marais could be heard.
Marais ran on stage wearing a dark green tank top under a white denim jacket with his name in black on the back. The jacket was made by Logan Neitzel, a designer who’s worked with artists like Macklemore and Lil Nas X.
The song’s opening verse hit fans in their hearts as Marais poured out his feelings and insecurities about not feeling good enough directly after leaving the band.
“You can’t play instruments like Dan,” Marais sang. “Can’t sing like Jack, you wish you can. Can’t dress like Corbyn, can’t even dance. And we both know Zach was the face of the band.”
The energy and excitement from the crowd were evident as soon as Marais stepped on stage.
Fans crowded in front of the stage in the standing area of the venue.
After the second song, Marais says to the crowd, “I just have to say, I was in Boston last night and you guys have already outdone that crowd.”
The energy and excitement were certainly mutual as Marais seemed very happy to be on stage and danced around the whole night.
Along with the five songs off his recent EP, Marais sang “War Paint,” a song he wrote and released before joining Why Don’t We. The emotional and sentimental song with its screamable chorus captivated fans.
Before singing his song “Heaven,” Marais shared a childhood memory of his with the crowd.
“I remember being in summer camp one year and I was with some friends, and we all had our arms wrapped around each other and we were swaying a little bit singing ‘Lean On Me,’” he told the crowd.
“I’m a firm believer that like getting groups of people together and singing is the closest you could get to heaven.”
Marais also covered two Why Don’t We songs in his set, citing “Grey” as one of his favorites from the band while on the keyboard. Marais tugged at the audience’s heartstrings in his emotional and heartfelt performance.
Marais also played “8 Letters” by Why Don’t We, the title track and first single off the band’s first-ever album. The nostalgia and ever-present love for the band was clear in the audience as fans sang the loudest during his performance of the song.
Marais reminisced on his close friendships with his bandmates, sharing a story about Isaac Levy and Bennett Vee. He mentions that their dads were all in a band together and that they grew up backstage going to their dads’ shows. Marais says that this tour will be a “core memory” for him to look back on.
The singer also played a few unreleased songs that thrilled fans. The first of which was “Miracle Fruit,” the raunchy and hot lyrics sent fans into an excited frenzy.
The last song of the night was another unreleased song, “Slow Motion,” during which he hops into the pit and jumps along with the crowd.
After the show, Marais invited fans to stay back to sign merch and take pictures with them. Marais left the venue alongside fans and stood on the corner of E. 23rd St. and Lexington Ave. as fans waited in line to meet the singer.
He was very kind and sweet to everyone, and took his time to meet with and speak to every single fan. He stayed well after the show ended at 10 p.m.