Sometimes bills are put together perfectly. Thursday night was one of those when the double bill of Mali Velasquez and Bloomsday came into Somerville, and Sweet Petunia was added as local support. All three artists are perfect examples of the indie folk genre, and all three blended together perfectly. Plus, I've been meaning to check out the new-ish Warehouse XI for a while, so it ended up being my perfect chance to.
Sweet Petunia opened the show. Despite the fact that they're from Boston, I hadn't been able to see them yet. Maddy Simpson and Mairead Guy play together perfectly. The duo played a short, but glorious set of indie folk songs that endeared themselves to Mali Valsquez and Bloomsday's audience. I couldn't tell how many people knew of Sweet Petunia before Thursday night, but they completely won over the crowd within a song or two.
Bloomsday played next, and I had high expectations for their set. Musically, they have the laid back indie folk sound mixed with some indie rock. I was personally pretty excited I brought my earplugs with me since the rock side was much louder than I expected. The crowd for Bloomsday was on the younger side, and they brought an incredible excitement and energy to the show. Plus, they were completely into the show with virtually no chatter during the songs. It didn't hurt that Bloomsday are an amazing live band, and at times were like a more intimate version of Wilco. They also broke out a cover of Adrienne Lenker's "Sadness as a Gift" that was a huge hit with the crowd, and for good reason.
Mali Velasquez closed out the evening, and brought back the laid back indie folk vibes. The band was almost painfully quiet at times, and the show somehow felt even more intimate than the one hundred and fifty person venue could be. She was the artist I was least familiar with, but Velasquez and her band won me over quickly. She has this certain sound to her music that holds her apart from the usual indie folk. As intimate and delicate as the music was, there was an unexpected edge hiding on the outskirts of the sound. It was one of the quietly most noisy performances I've ever seen, which is obviously going to be something I enjoy.
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