words/photos Jennie Book

Jake Wesley Rogers brought his Peace, Love & Pluto tour to Bimbos 365 in San Francisco on Sunday night and left nothing on the table as he played to a full crowd of fans. Structured as a three act event, Rogers played a twelve-song set with lots of fun banter, a beautiful spoken word piece as his encore, and even added a game of truth or dare with his three charismatic bandmates (one chose truth, two chose dare.)

Rogers is a showman, with theatricality and costumes and a total command of the stage as he prowls around it singing his heart out. But the thing that separates him from many other modern day showmen, of which there are many, is that last thing. His heart. It’s on his sleeve, and he’s talking about his first boyfriend who’s no longer with us, and he’s playing slow at the piano about it, and he’s talking about how the venue tonight is a safe space and how much we all need that, and he means it. He’s filled with heart. He wants the best for his fans. And in the act of pleasing everyone he delivers joy, sorrow, fun, thoughtfulness, and true entertainment.

In the fall of 2022 Rogers opened for Panic! At The Disco at The Chase Center in San Francisco, with a piano on stage and eighteen thousand people in his audience. That’s right about where he belongs, on a stage that size, a stage that can hold both his showmanship and his heart.

Setlist:

Middle of Love

Lavender Forever

Weddings and Funerals

My Mistake

Call It Love

Momentary

Hot Gospel

Jacob from the Bible

Cause of a Scene

Happy Accident

Hindsight

Pluto

I Am