Live Shows: Abigail Lapell and Audrey Pearl, Club Passim, Cambridge, MA 6/1/24

We're huge fans of Abigail Lapell here at If It's Too Loud... Her latest album, Anniversary, is all but guaranteed a spot in our end of the year lists, so when she announced a tour that hit three New England locations this past weekend, we had to check out at least one of them. The one that ended up working out the best was Saturday night at the legendary Club Passim.

Abigail Lapell's music was even more mesmerizing in person. Playing solo, she captivated the crowd right from the start. It helps that Club Passim never gets a bad crowd, with an audience that is always attentive and responsive. That worked perfectly for Lapell's set of delicate Canadian folk songs. Playing a large number of songs from her latest album, Lapell just has this natural on stage presence that leaves you desperate to hear more. Songs like "Count On Me" and "Rattlesnake" (my personal favorite from Anniversary) were even more engaging in a live setting. 

Something unexpected but wonderful was Lapell's stage banter. While either discussing accidental themes of her music (the songs on Anniversary all mentioned the color blue) or talking about playing a remote UFO themed ranch/venue, at times the space between songs was some of the best parts of the show. One of the best was reintroducing herself after coming back on stage for an encore. Even without the amazing songs and music, that was worth the price of admission alone.

Audrey Pearl came down from Vermont to open the show and was a delight. She played a solo set of folk-pop songs with that level of charm that can only come from a young performer. Playing in front of an appreciative audience, her short set of songs shows a great amount of promise, and we'll be sure to bring you new music of hers as it is released!