Last night, Jack Antonoff's nonprofit The Ally Coalition hosted its seventh annual talent show to raise money for homeless LGBTQ+ shelters. Like so many other events, the talent show went virtual this year, which meant musicians were able to get creative. The itinerary included St. Vincent taking on The Beatles’ “Martha My Dear,” Lana Del Rey singing “Silent Night” at home in front of her Christmas tree, and Hayley Williams covering Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” fresh out of the shower, donning a bathrobe and towel on her head.
Maggie Rogers, Spoon, Brittany Howard and more also gave captivating performances, but one of the night's highlights was Antonoff's own performance. Equipped with an acoustic guitar in an empty theater, he played Bleachers' new single "45" and covered Taylor Swift's folklore track "This Is Me Trying" — a song he helped write and produce.
After the talent show was over, Antonoff took to Twitter to reflect on playing new material in a venue (albeit alone) for the first time since the pandemic. "got to play 45 alone for the first time at a venue and imaged it with you all at the end of the night shouting at each other ..... one day," he wrote.
TAC Talent Show was able to raise more than $300,000 for a number of LGBTQ+ organizations. Watch Antonoff's performance above.
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