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Out queer male pop stars felt unthinkable 10 years ago. They were more plentiful before the AIDS crisis, but Lance Bass, Ricky Martin, Adam Lambert and Sam Smith were outliers whose legacies homophobes threatened to cheapen and discredit. Now artists like Lil Nas X, Khalid, Troye Sivan and Omar Apollo are voicing and embodying queer men’s dreams, fears and desires openly, in their own words, and finding audiences. People who aren’t queer men can also find deep meaning in their music, and their connections no less significant.
Durand Bernarr throws his hat in the ring to give the boys something to aspire to. First noted as a backing singer to Erykah Badu, Bernarr made waves with his lively NPR Tiny Desk concert and collaborated with fellow out rapper Kaytranada last year on his song “Weird.” He’s riding that momentum to move from 20 feet to stardom into the center stage on his You Gon’ Grow Too! tour stop at the Wonder Ballroom on Saturday, April 26, promoting his new album, BLOOM, and last year’s Grammy-nominated En Route.
It’s too easy to call queer men “sassy,” but Bernarr’s banter with the audience was citrus acidic: sunny and a little tart. He chides with care, in a knowing way, which is an impressive feat to pull off in a mostly full ballroom of strangers. His songs’ arrangements are refreshingly complex, sonically zagging where he’s expected to zig, with lyrical content his peers haven’t voiced yet. Highlights from his three-act show include the En Route song “Unknown,” the BLOOM track “Flounce” about staying light and easy breezy, and “BLAST!” which would have been a solid show closer for lyrical content.
Shae Universe, Bernarr’s opener, set the tone early with her smooth vocal range and covers of both R&B standards and infectious original songs about self-love. It sounded as if her mic or the sound system wasn’t properly calibrated to give her the crystalline audio fidelity she deserved, which is the only negative thing one could say about either musician. Together, Bernarr and Universe activated the audience into dancing and call-and-response feedback, filling the room with some of the best, most engaged crowd energy I’ve felt at a Portland concert.