An Evening of Games and Guitar with Jake Minch
Photo by Andrew Angel
As soon as TikTok added the feature to save posts into organized folders, I created one dedicated to songs and musicians I came across, constantly being stuffed with more content I want to keep for later. While going through everything in the folder, one would notice that certain artists appear multiple times. Jake Minch is just one of these creators who amazes me time and time again.
On Wednesday, June 9th, I had the opportunity to attend Minch’s album pre-release party at The Uncommons in New York City, thrilled that the venue for the event was only a ten-minute walk from where I ended work that day. Minch’s discography acted as the soundtrack to my day as I prepared for the event that evening. With a combination of anxiousness and excitement, I waited at a café across the street until it was closer to the event’s start time. In the blink of an eye, a crowd flooded the outside of The Uncommons. I took this as my cue to cross the street and join the line.
We filtered into the café, each receiving a free poster, and Jake was already seated at one of the tables with a game of Monopoly Deal. Hundreds of board games decorated the walls, waiting to be taken from the shelves and played by guests at their tables. I decided to attend the event alone and very quickly became acquainted with the people at my table. Everyone shared the same unreal feeling of being in a space with an artist we all admired and came to support. We started a round of Cards Against Humanity and instantly interacted as if we had been friends for ages. This kindness was not limited to just my table, as it was true of each person I interacted with at the event—something that I think speaks volumes about Minch and his fanbase.
As everyone became invested in their games, Minch made his way around to each table, ensuring that he interacted with everyone who attended. The cozy, intimate atmosphere of the café made the entire event feel as though the space was filled with friends gathering and catching up with one another. Minch made his way over and joined for a couple of rounds of Cards Against Humanity (also judging my card as the funniest). Each person who attended the event was guaranteed time to enter the café to play games, take photos with Minch, and/ or get their posters signed. After everyone got their turn, Minch, with guitar in hand, led the crowd outside to a nearby apartment stoop down the street for chats and to play an outdoor acoustic set.
The crowd turned into more than just the people who showed up to the event: residents of the apartment building leaned over their fire escapes to peer down at the street, and pedestrians walking by would pause to listen for a moment. Even a cockroach wanted to be involved at one point, in classic New York City fashion. Overall, it was truly beautiful to watch Minch sing to the crowd on a street in Manhattan.
As someone who has been following Jake Minch’s work over the past couple of years, it is safe to say that I was impatiently awaiting his debut album, George, which was released on July 11. Minch has blown me away once again with this presentation of raw authenticity, and I have not been able to turn the album off since its release.