Live Shows: Bella White and Maddy Kirgo, Brighton Music Hall, Boston, MA 4/4/25

I've been a huge Bella White fan since I stumbled on her debut album Just Like Leaving a year after it was released. My fandom was so strong that I saw her twice on the same day at the 2021 Green River Festival. The bluegrass/folk artist had such a high potential during those two performances. She was great, but you just knew that some day she'd be really great. Friday night I ventured out to Brighton Music Hall to finally see her again four years later.

Taking the stage with a retooled band (for this tour she's playing as a three piece with a bassist and a drummer), Bella White simply blew everyone away. She's playing with a lot more confidence these days and has transformed into a fantastic live performer. She's moved a bit away from her bluegrass roots into more of a folk-based sound, and it seems to fit her well. Her setlist on Friday night was the perfect blend for all fans, with an almost perfectly equal amount of songs from both of her albums as well as new, unreleased songs. Speaking of new, unreleased songs, she has a new song called "Stuff" which was inspired by Lucinda Williams' song "Essence." Keep an eye out for this one, it's truly great. (She also broke out a cover of Williams' "Concrete and Barbed Wire." 

I truly can't overstate how far White has come as a performer in the past four years. She seems much more comfortable on stage, especially with between song banter. The older, more bluegrass based songs are still the same at the core, but slightly reworked for her new band. The audience was completely rapt for her entire set, with the only complaint being that we couldn't see her new puppy that was backstage.

Maddy Kirgo opened the show with a great solo electric set. Her sound was a mixture of folk, Americana, pop, and indie rock. She was great despite the overly chatty crowd, which didn't seem to faze her at all. I wasn't very familiar with her before Friday night, but she was a genuinely engaging performer with killer between song/tuning soup based banter. She's one of those openers who you immediately want to familiarize yourself with once you get home, which I encourage everyone to do.