“The grass isn’t greener on the other side. You know what’s really green? The grass that you’re standing on right now,” Jeremy Zucker said as he introduced his song, “oh, mexico” to a sold-out Bailey Hall on Saturday.
Zucker is known for his indie pop songs like the 2018 global hit “comethru,” which attracted fans to create a viral dance challenge on social media and has garnered over 800 million streams. His songs address mental health struggles, relationships and break-ups, touching on a range of prevalent emotions in early adulthood from finding purpose to navigating the unknown.
Having finished touring for his collaborative album, brent iii, with indie pop artist Chelsea Cutler in December, this concert was Zucker’s first time singing their album’s songs by himself.
The concert was organized by the Cornell Concert Commission, a student organization that helps select artists and produce campus concerts. According to CCC selections director Jen Grous ’25, this was the organization’s biggest show in Bailey Hall this academic year, drawing in 1,250 students.
“[Zucker] targets a little bit of a different demographic than previous artists we’ve had because he’s been around for so long, so many people have had time to find him,” Grouse said in an interview with The Sun.
Daffo, a band led by singer Gabi Gamberg, opened for the concert, bringing the energy of indie rock to the packed audience. Grouse said CCC aims to showcase emerging artists, different genre types and LGBTQ+ artists and artists of color.
“[Gamberg] is also non-binary, which I thought was important to have, because queer and trans people hold up so much of the music industry and are often under-appreciated,” Grouse said.
As the energy from Daffo’s set settled and anticipation grew, Zucker made his appearance, kicking off with “Therapist,” a song from his sophomore album, CRUSHER, before transitioning into “all the kids are depressed,” his 2018 hit song about mental health.
For students like Adrienne Healy ’26, hearing Zucker’s hit songs immediately brought a sense of high school and middle school nostalgia.
“I was really excited to be able to see him specifically just because I had listened to his music in the past, but I hadn’t for a while, so it’s reminiscent of early high school,” Healy said.
As the first chords began playing for “comethru,” the crowd erupted into cheers.
Zucker explained that he wrote the song about his struggles with loneliness while “waiting for [his] life to start” after college graduation.
“I was just bored and lonely and still in my hometown when I [thought] that I would be in LA or living in the city with friends. I wrote it about wanting somebody to come over and hang,” Zucker said during the concert. “My point being [that] we’re all going to have times like that in our lives, so don’t sweat it if you find yourself in a spot like that.”
Between songs, Zucker shared that he was a pre-med student majoring in molecular biology and a resident assistant in college. Writing music, he said, was his way of “juggling the insane responsibilities of being in college.”
Students left the concert resonating with Zucker’s story and his songs, which capture the common struggles college students face with not having everything figured out.
“All of us are in our college age, and [there’s] definitely [some] pain and also some great moments. I think his songs represent some of the spirits of the young people,” said Ling Deng, a foreign exchange student from China.
Healy appreciated CCC for organizing concerts on campus and bringing different types of artists.
“It’s so nice to be able to see artists that you don’t think to go and see, and it makes it so convenient for them to just be here for such cheap prices,” Healy said. “It’s so nice to have an event so close to home, right after classes, on a weekend.”
CCC will host its next concert featuring Frog, a folk rock band, on March 8 in Willard Straight Hall’s Memorial Room. Promotions Director Julia Minogue ’26 also revealed that their highly-anticipated collaborative event in April with the Multicultural Community Fueled Activity Board will feature “a rap show” and “a new artist.”
“Our hope always is that people can get out of whatever stresses are going on around them,” said CCC Executive Director Hannah Devine-Rader ’25. “Especially Cornell students, we think need that time away from chaos and a place to let go and dance and be present.”
Pilar Seielstad ’26 echoed Devine-Rader’s sentiment and said this was her first time at a Cornell concert apart from Slope Day. Like Deng and Healy, she also listened to Zucker in high school.
“I got a text that was like, ‘Hey, so Jeremy Zucker?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, I like him.’... This is exactly my genre, my type of singer and artist,” Seielstad said. “I think [these concerts are] awesome. It’s like a Cornell kind of community thing that I really enjoy.”
Lorna Ding ’28 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at lcd54@cornell.edu.
