Live Shows: Lady Lamb the Beekeeper & Cuddle Magic, The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA 3/7/15

As you can probably tell by now, we love Lady Lamb the Beekeeper. She was celebrating the release of her new record, the absolutely amazing After, this weekend with a trio of shows in her 3 hometowns. Luckily enough, one of them was at my favorite venue, The Sinclair. 

Currently touring as a three piece, Lady Lamb opened with "You Are the Apple" from Ripely Pine. I've always heard other music obsessives talk about getting chills and goosebumps from hearing certain songs or artists. As someone who follows music with a compulsion as I do, I never understood that. Seeing Lady Lamb live is the only time I ever have experienced that, and it started right off with the first song. The band went right into the first single off After, "Billions of Eyes," next, and that might just become my song of 2015. It's just an uptempo Dylan-esque ramble with the catchiest chorus of "da da da da da da da da da" that can ever exist. Another highlight off After was "Violet Clementine" which has such an infectious counterpoint duet. Coming back for the encore, they started off with "Crane Your Neck," possibly her best song live, with its false stops and multiple tempo and style changes.

This might truly be the best time to catch a Lady Lamb the Beekeeper show. If the way the crowd received her Saturday night is any indication, she is about to explode. Hell, After was streaming on Rolling Stone's website before its official release. This might be the last chance to see her in such an intimate setting that she is playing on this current tour. Plus, she's still at the level where you can tell how excited and appreciative she is when the crowd sings the words to their favorite songs. The only negative might be that because she's performing as a trio, a lot of the nuances of the songs that come with strings and horns are missing. Luckily she was joined by the horn section of Cuddle Magic for a few songs to help fill that.

Speaking of Cuddle Magic, since I first saw them open up for David Wax Museum in 2011, they've grown an insane amount as a band. Back then, they were a bit sloppy, but still an endearing band. I liked them, but they were a bit too twee for my personal tastes. Every time I've seen them since, they've gotten better. At Saturday's Sinclair show, they seemed to have finally found their sound, which is progressive folk with some slight electronic dance elements. They're definitely a band to watch in the next couple years.

For more information on Lady Lamb the Beekeeper (especially tour dates and ordering her amazing new album), go to her website. For Cuddle Magic, you can find their website here.