Alex G
w/ Nilüfer Yanya
The Ryman Auditorium; Nashville
October 4, 2025
Review by Philip Obenschain. Photos by Ben Burton.
Lo-fi indie rocker Alex G began releasing music in 2011, the same year No Country For New Nashville was founded, so he’s an artist we’ve always had a particular fondness for, as we’ve watched him grow from buzzy DIY beginnings to one of the most captivating and eclectic songwriters of his generation. Born Alexander Giannascoli and also known, for a few brief years in the late 2010s as (Sandy) Alex G, the fiercely independent artist has played Nashville many times over the years; first, at a house show more than a decade ago (as guitarist Sam Acchione reminisced at their most recent performance) and later at spots like The High Watt (RIP), The Stone Fox (also RIP), The End (where this writer first saw him, opening for Title Fight), Exit/In, Third Man, and, last time around, Brooklyn Bowl. But on his latest stop, in support of fantastic new album Headlights, Alex headlined The Ryman Auditorium for the first time, a wonderfully well-suited space for his earnest, chilled out style of indie.
Editor Philip Obenschain and contributing photographer Ben Burton checked in for Alex G’s return to Music City, which featured support from English indie rocker Nilüfer Yanya. Check out our full review and photos below!
I arrived a few minutes late to The Ryman, and as I took my seat, Nilüfer Yanya had already begun. I’ve been familiar with the British indie rocker for awhile, and I’ve definitely heard tracks here and there on playlists or the radio, but until this week, I hadn’t put on a full record. Listening to her latest, last year’s My Method Actor, ahead of this show, I realized I’ve really been missing out, and I was hyped to see her live, even if I’m a little late to the party (both figuratively and literally; damn you, downtown weekend traffic). Live, Yanya and her band played with even more of a punch than I expected from her recordings, and songs like lush alt rock cut “Like I Say (I runaway)” and the more low-key and intimate “Call It Love” showcased her impressive range and knack for ’90s nostalgia. Nilüfer and her fantastic band kept it short and sweet, playing less than 10 songs about around 40 minutes, but by the time she finished, with a cover of PJ Harvey’s “Rid of Me” and grungy, hypnotic single “Midnight Sun,” I was both left wanting more, and even more impressed than I expected to be (but again, though this was my first time seeing her, I know Nilüfer Yanya has been making excellent music for almost a decade now, and is set to next open for Lorde in Europe).
After the high of Nilüfer Yanya’s magnetic opening set, I was left with about a half hour of changeover to come back down, and mentally mellow out for Alex G’s slightly more low-key vibe. I believe I first got into the Philly-based singer around 2012’s Trick (I still maintain it’s one of the best albums of the 2010s) and saw him several times throughout last decade, from some of those scrappy early shows at small local clubs to bigger festival appearances, but it had been about 6 or 7 years, three albums, and two soundtracks ago since the last time I caught Alex G live. I’m not only a big fan of Headlights, but I also adore Alex’s recent film score collaborations with director Jane Schoenbrun (especially I Saw the TV Glow, one of my favorite films of last year), so I was extra excited to see him again, particularly at the legendary Mother Church.
Finally, a little after 9, the lights dimmed and Alex and his longtime band (guitarist Sam Acchione, bassist John Heywood, and drummer Tom Kelly) took the stage, launching into Headlights tune “Louisiana,” and setting the tone that the main set would be heavy on the new stuff. Not only was the show sold out and entirely packed, but Alex G’s fans were also especially enthusiastic, wrapping the merch line through the balcony as long as I’d ever seen it, and loudly cheering, shouting requests, and singing along throughout. At this point, 15 years in, Alex has a ton of solo music, covering a huge sonic range, and he managed to explore every little eccentric facet of his artistry throughout a nearly two-hour and almost 30-song set, covering the entirety of his new album, as well as something from every single LP (though none of his soundtrack work, unsurprisingly), making this essentially an oddball indie version of an Alex G Eras Tour.
The first portion of the show skewed heavily on the new stuff, peppering in more recent tracks “Gretel” and “Runner” with half of Headlights, as the lights set the vibe by washing the singer and his band in bright primary colors, and as Alex occasionally traded his guitar for accordion (didn’t see that coming) and piano (much more expected), and as his band perfectly set the groove on songs like “June Guitar,” earworm single “Afterlife,” and “Oranges,” during which colorful Christmas lights I’d noticed being tested between sets came to life (the production as a whole was pretty minimalist, but still did a good job of making everything looking really cool and moody to perfectly match the songs).
After that first stretch of newer material, Alex leaned into the fan-favorites, performing “Bug” and “Kicker” from Beach Music, leading to deafening cheers and applause, before launching into one of his most off-kilter and aggressive tunes, “Brick” followed by similarly weird and musically adventurous cuts “Horse” and “Blessing.” From vocal effects to unorthodox guitar work, lush keyboards, to slacker rock melodies, Alex G’s range has always been impressive and hard to pin down, and while his newer material is perhaps a bit more conventional and formally produced, seeing it live, alongside his older stuff, is a reminder than it’s all pretty gloriously unique and weird, and after this many years, his show still harbors a feeling of unpredictability and looseness. For the final stretch of the main set, he played most of the rest of Headlights, including some of its more downtempo tracks like “Is It Still You in There?” and “Spinning,” ending with Trick throwback “Kute” and new title track “Headlights,” but proclaiming that the whole encore thing was built into the show, and that they’d be right back.
Less of an encore and more of a whole third act, when Alex reemerged, it wasn’t just for one or two more hits, but instead another nine, which ended up being one of the best parts of the whole show, largely made up of audience requests and older favorites. Beginning with a sort of joke rendition of “Far and Wide” before asking the crowd to shout out requests, which quickly became incoherent, the encore featured tracks like “Gnaw,” “Black Hair,” and “Message,” before ending on an incredible final stretch of “Harvey,” “Bobby,” “Sarah,” and “Change.” I feel sorry for anyone who snuck out early, because the last half hour was electrifying, and conjured the energy of those sweaty, small early Alex G shows I remember from ten years ago. Now in his 30s (he was probably like 25 the last time I saw him perform), this was a slightly older, slightly more adult version of Alex G, but one who’s still one of the best songwriters and most captivating performers making indie music today, and I left the show- so perfectly suited to The Ryman stage- feeling more certain of that than ever.
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All photos by Ben Burton
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Setlist:
Louisiana
Gretel
June Guitar
Runner
Real Thing
Beam Me Up
Afterlife
Oranges
Bug
Kicker
Brick
Horse
Blessing
Immunity
Logan Hotel
Is It Still You in There?
Bounce Boy
Spinning
Kute
Headlights
Far and Wide
In My Arms
Gnaw
Black Hair
Message
Harvey
Bobby
Sarah
Change