SLUG CHRIST – 3/23 @ the lilypad inman

for fans of: ghostemane

wow honestly what a night. I went alone to the show & wrote about my entire experience being alone in I had such an interesting and confusing day but as far as the music goes, it was a different story.

he was a very good performer and I loved all of the songs that he played. he does underground mumble rap (with some satanic elements I would say), which is literally rap music but mumbly. it sounds pretty spooky and I would say it’s definitely not for everyone but I also started out hating mumble rap and now I listen to it fairly regularly. so I would say to give it a try with “hokay hokay hokay” or “honja” and if you’re into it, check out “elevate” and “chemicals” (those are my favs but they’re definitely on the more intense side).

as far as the crowd goes, it was mostly men in an intimidating-looking motley crew, & the vibe was very intense and underground. it was like a group of 90 people that crawled out of the woodwork to come to the show. definitely a specific & strange environment for me, a small white girl. great experience though.

slug only played for 20 minutes which sucked but honestly the openers were pretty cool too so I think it was worth it to stay out until 2 on a Thursday night.

concert rate: 7/10

THE JAPANESE HOUSE – 3/26 @ the sinclair

for fans of: oh wonder

I don’t think I talked about this group much in any of my posts but honestly this everything about this show was so good. I went to this show with my roommate so it was a very relaxed experience.

the opener for The Japanese House was Blaise Moore and she was very cool. not only did she look like an athleisure goddess, she had the most incredible highlighter on her face and wow it was gorgeous I wish I could look as good as her. she’s also kind of like oh wonder and she has a very soft, soothing voice and an incredible range. I really liked all of the songs she played, but there were a few when she tried to rap and it wasn’t really my thing but the songs were still good anyway.

then the japanese house went on, and they were INCREDIBLE. it’s fronted by a woman named amber and she is so talented, she has the most beautiful lilting voice. the set was killer, they played all of the songs I wanted to hear and she’s a very consistent singer- like she sounded fantastic live (I feel like live is always better) but she doesn’t sound different than she did on the recorded tracks, which is a good thing I would say. songs I recommend: “still” and “good side in”

their music is all pretty chill so the crowd was also pretty chill, the venue served drinks but most of the people there were fairly tame. they used some cool lights during their set that added to the ~ambiance~ & the venue itself is very cool & rustic, my roommate & I were digging it.

concert rate: 8/10

JAY SOM/THE COURTNEYS/HALFSOUR – 3/28 @ great scott

for fans of: the japanese house/diet cig/jackal onasis

I went to this eclectic lineup in Allston with my friend Paul because we were writing a review about the show for our college’s music zine. it was a good time.

halfsour opened the show, and they had a really cute guitarist/drummer dynamic with the front woman. they’re an indie rock band, so I expected it to be loud, but it was like too loud that me & Paul couldn’t even hear what the lyrics of the song were, which kinda sucked.

jay som was fucking lit, they stole the show for sure. they definitely had the best set and best reaction from the crowd, with their best song probably being “the bus song” which happens to be my fav of theirs. but yeah they sound kind of like the japanese house, and they look super eclectic onstage but when they start playing it just makes so much sense, & they have a great vibe. 

the courtneys played last. they’re an all-female, grungy, slacker pop group from Berklee College of Music which was cool but it wasn’t really my vibe, me & Paul ended up leaving like 3 songs into their set (lol).

the venue was a bar with a little stage which was cute and a small setting, which was cool. it was a bit of a rowdier crowd because the music was on the grungier side but it wasn’t threatening at all. it reminded me of a tamer and more “standard white person” crowd that I would see at my fav local music venue from home, which was cute because it was like a little taste of home. but yeah overall this concert was pretty cool.

concert rating: 6/10

~

a concert I did not go to but I had tickets for & very much wanted to go to:

PINEGROVE – 4/8 @ quinnipiac university

for fans of: tigers jaw

this was a concert I was supposed to go to today but unfortunately the plans to get there fell through and all the other options to get there were too expensive.

my friend, her roommate, and I were all gonna go, but then last minute (literally the morning we were leaving) her roommate dropped out. but we were still planning on renting a car from a company that would rent to 20 year olds so that my friend could drive there. everything was set up and we had a car reserved but when we went to go pay for it, we found out they only took credit cards. I have a credit card but my friend didn’t, & we couldn’t use mine to pay for it because everything had to be under the same name. and they wouldn’t rent to me because I’m too young (I have my license but I’m only 18 and most car rental places won’t rent to people under the age of 21)

we had already looked at all the other major car rental services around Boston (including zipcar) and they wouldn’t rent to us so that wasn’t an option

and then none of the buses were leaving so that we could get there on time

and all the trains there were too expensive and also left too late

so we didn’t go

but it would have been lovely if we did

~