Del Water Gap, Leyla Ebrahimi
College Street Music Hall
New Haven
March 4, 2026
Angst and yearning, with a side of bliss, were on the menu at College Street Music Hall Wednesday night. Headliner Del Water Gap (née S. Holden Jaffe) and opening act Leyla Ebrahimi served soul-bearing music with a sonic palette that ranged from moody to kinetic.
The roar from the crowd was as unceasing as their jostling to get closer to the stage. Bouncers had to constantly corral people throughout the night so it wouldn’t get too hectic. It was an electrifying showing at the final U.S. show for Del Water Gap’s tour; especially fitting as he was born in New Haven.
“This is one of the most exciting nights of my life,” yelled Ebrahimi as she told the audience that College Street Music Hall was the biggest venue she has played. It was obvious that she was having the time of her life. She jumped all over the stage, her long locks whipping through the air, as her sultry voice rang out – breathy or bellowing when the occasion called for it. Her indie-alt-pop songs, laden with lush beats, were about distant paramours and obsessive love. In “YOU CAN KEEP THE FIRE,” she passionately tells a lover, if I could drink you/ I’d drink you. In another song, she sassily tells them she’s too pretty for their bullshit.
Ebrahimi debuted her music two years ago; her strong presence on stage suggested an artist that has been at this for much longer. “We love you!” screamed someone from the audience as she finished her set.
The ecstatic energy that Ebrahimi left behind swelled when Del Water Gap hit the stage. He led with the punchy “Small Town Joan of Arc,” a song about a love turned divine. Throughout the night, he continued in that same vein of lyrics of longing set to propulsive rhythms that made people groove with reckless abandon. The audience was a sea of motion all night.
Del Water Gap himself was a blur of motion as he confidently danced and stalked the stage bathed in shifting lights, sometimes strumming a guitar. The audience pled alongside him as he earnestly sang, Please just tell me that nobody else touches you like I do, from probably his most popular song, “Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat.” We all laughed in solidarity when he announced, “No more situationships in 2026,” before he launched into the confessional “New Personality.” With lyrics like I wanna believe I can measure this Earth in/ All the good deeds I pretend that I’ve done, Del Water Gap’s indie pop digs deep into the soul.
His stagecraft was compelling, too. Swoops of white fabric draping the stage displayed projections of real-time video that alternated between cool up-close angles of Del – there was a particularly striking shot of his haunting eyes – and footage of his frenzied fans. He pulled the audience further into his performance when he invited a fan on stage to manage his vibrant lighting, joking that his lighting director was taking a break. In an inventive moment of performance art, he rolled out an actual sewing machine and continued to sing as he sewed an unidentified object that he threw into the crowd for a lucky person to catch.
When he was finally finished with us, the clapping and cheering seemed to go on forever.
“I was really grateful to see [him],” gushed superfan and fellow artist Madhavi Devi. “I think he has evolved so much. He might be the only artist where I can say I’ve witnessed his growth from an early stage in his career.” Devi has been to every single one of Del Water Gap’s tours and came up from New Jersey for the show.
To find out just how good Del Water Gap and Leyla Ebrahimi are, visit their websites at delwatergap.net and leylaebrahimi.com.
