Live Shows: Horsegirl and Free Range, Arts at the Armory, Somerville, MA 3/27/25

I absolutely adored Horsegirl's 2022 debut album Versions of Modern Performance, and their follow up, Phonetics On and On, released in February, is already a strong contender for best album of 2025. I wasn't able to make it when they played Boston for their first album, so I definitely wasn't going to miss out when they played Arts at the Armory in Somerville last week.

I love Horsegirl's classic indie rock/alt-rock sound, and how perfectly they have captured the whole 90's indie rock boom while updating it to a more modern sound. Live they have even more of a 90's vibe going on with their performance. It's a mixture of still being a very young band and the 90's "whatever" attitude, but Horsegirl's members are compelling live performers. Without a lot of flair and without showing off, they let the music speak for itself. It was a surprisingly diverse crowd as far as ages went, with just as many teenagers in attendance as people old enough to be their parents. Regardless of age, the crowd watched the entire performance in rapt attention. (The few people that were overly chatty were almost immediately shushed, which was great to see.)

The setlist was focused on the month old Phonetics On and On, and in fact all eleven songs off the album were played. Versions of Modern Performance was still represented well, and "Anti-glory" was quite well received. "2468" closed out the evening in a fun, uplifting way. After an hour and no encore, the show ended on a great high note. No one left the show disappointed, and I overheard many attendees on the walk back to cars and public transportation glowingly talking about the show. In a few years with a little more experience, Horsegirl are going to be giant with legendary live shows.

Free Range opened the show, which seemed both like an odd and perfect choice. Turns out Sofia Jensen grew up with at least one member of Horsegirl in Chicago, so it was a truly sweet choice for an opener. Their blend of laid back alt-country meets indie rock ended up being a perfect sound to open without being completely obvious. Free Range is another artist with huge potential that could end up being huge in a few years, especially if their just released album Lost & Found is any indication.