Dutch Melrose is an artist who you may have heard of before. He’s got around 3.4 million streams a month on Spotify. But even if you haven’t I’ll forgive you because he might just be your new favorite artist if you’re into dark alt music. Or if your on the booktok/bookstagram side of the internet perhaps you’ve already heard his song Runrunrun. You may also have heard him since he’s collabed with Benny Mayne who’s joined him on the road for the Heartbreak Hotel Tour. 

The Heartbreak Hotel Tour is a quick one with only a few shows between August and September. But I was lucky enough to catch them when they stopped in San Francisco at Brick & Mortar. Now the outside of the venue may seem like any other door on the street but the second I walked through the door the music was already going and everyone was already enjoying Benny Mayne. He was the perfect guy to start the night. 

Usually mid week shows can be a bit rough especially before the main act even starts with the crowd filling in as the night goes on. Although for some reason this crowd would’ve made you think it was a Friday or Saturday night with how packed it was from the start. 

By the time Dutch Melrose went on the crowd was more than ready for him. He performed all of his fan favorites Pretty Please, Forget You, Sleepless. He asked the crowd where they may have found him - perhaps TikTok, Instagram, from booktok or the dark romance world, or just plain old Spotify. He performed the song Runrunrun which had the crowd jumping everywhere with the room getting hotter by the second. 

 He stopped between songs every now and again to engage with the crowd and share how special it was to him that they came out to support. Dutch Melrose went on to explain how for him “music is my therapy” and that it “transcended beyond just what I wanted to make” he continued to express his gratitude for music connecting him with others and let people enjoy what he creates.  You could tell this was an artist who enjoys his craft and the people he has around him. He brought back Benny Mayne for a few songs together. Then got into the crowd for a bit really engaging with the audience. 

There’s two more shows left in Los Angeles at the end of this week. While I am personally not the biggest fan of LA traffic, you might want to endure it if it means a chance to see Dutch Melrose in the flesh before his tour comes to an end.