The summer’s hottest New York City venue was not a venue at all, but a mansion in Bed-Stuy occupied by a group of Georgian artists who live there rent-free. The mansion—dubbed the Hancock—hosted its first concert in February 2023, after podcaster and musician Curtis Pawley of the Ion Pack had a chance encounter with one of its residents at a bar. They decided the Hancock was the perfect place to debut his music project, The Life. Scenesters huddled together in single-digit weather in a line that stretched down the block for a chance to dance under the manor’s flickering chandeliers, enjoy the open bar, tap dance on Kevin Carpet, catch a glimpse of Julian Casablancas, and rub elbows with niche downtown celebrities. Inside, they stuffed their puffers behind furniture, smoked, drank liquor straight from the bottle, and made out—a proper house party. At one point, while searching for a bathroom, I found myself in the basement chatting with artist Gocha Chkadua, illuminated by a forest of his glow-in-the-dark alien plant sculptures.

Since that night, the Hancock has been the venue of choice for some of New York’s buzziest shows. There was a mud-wrestling extravaganza in the backyard thrown by Sofia Zarzuela and November Girl; the mysterious and wildly popular British band Bar Italia played to a sweaty, enraptured crowd in June; and last weekend, Porches closed out the summer season. Hosted by Joe Kerwin—author of the You Missed It blog, known for its supremely unmissable events—the show sold out within three hours of its Instagram announcement. On the day of, my Story feed was flooded with last-minute pleas for tickets.

“The party had all the intimacy and debauchery of a college house show, except the sound was actually good.”

The gig did not disappoint. I showed up just as Logan Chung was finishing up his DJ set (he was followed by Been Stellar), and entered the mansion through the basement. The boy in front of me in line asked if he could bring in a beer, and the door girl shrugged and said she thought so; I turned around and bought a bottle of wine from the liquor store around the corner. On my way back, I ran into Kerwin, who was on a beer run for Porches, and I saw Dev Hynes in front of the Hancock’s steps. The party had all the intimacy and debauchery of a college house show, except the sound was actually good. Aaron Maine is a captivating performer—he embodies the music, his movement a natural extension of the sound. The crowd was his, dancing and singing along, climbing on the mansion’s fireplaces and other architectural features to get a better look. He mostly played songs off his most recent album, All Day Gentle Hold !, but threw in a few from Ricky Music and Pool, like “rangerover” and “Underwater.”

Everyone spilling onto the street afterwards had that post-show glow, with wild eyes and damp hair. Shallowhalo DJ’ed the ensuing dance party, and I ended up leaving around 4:30 a.m., finishing my wine bottle in the garden with the other stragglers, including Avi Henig of LazyLazy, Kerwin, Pawley, and a few of the mansion’s lovely, welcoming residents. Here, we relive the rowdy night through the lens of Brooklyn-based photographer Marcus Maddox.