Review: Blondshell @ The Royale 6/19
Photo Credit: Hannah Bon
Review by Sophia Bartlett
Boston could’ve been renamed “Kiss City” on Thursday when Blondshell played a sold out show at the Royale.
The indie rock band is currently on “If You Asked For a Tour” in support of the new album “If You Asked For A Picture,” released in May of this year.
Boston was the first show with Daffo performing as a supporting act on this leg of tour. While I was only able to catch the last two songs of their set, I really enjoyed their stage presence and performance. From what I could see in the crowd, they captured attention and walked away with an eruption of cheers.
I have seen Blondshell perform once before this show, at All Things Go festival in DC this previous September. Despite not being a fan at the time, hardly even knowing “Kiss City,” I was captured by her performance. I was looking forward to seeing her as a headlining performer.
Blondshell opened with “23’s A Baby,” one of the singles from “If You Asked For A Picture.” Sabrina looked very comfortable on stage. She wore relaxed jeans, a cutoff shirt and wire-circle glasses.
“You sound really good,” she said to the crowd towards the end of the show. “I wore my glasses so I could see you tonight, I’ve never done that before but there’s something about a Boston crowd.”
Blondshell played a good mix of songs from their new album, which was the majority of the setlist, and songs from older albums. They played one cover, Addison Rae’s “Diet Pepsi.” The band recently recorded and released a cover of the hit with Sirius XMU. It was a fun addition to the setlist, especially considering the band’s musical take on the song, transforming the pop song perfectly with an indie rock take.
Sabrina didn’t have much interaction with the crowd, and any small talk between songs was very short and sweet. At no fault of her own, and probably due to my spot on the left side of the venue under the balcony overhang, she sounded muffled at points and I couldn’t always quite make her words out.
I felt that the band was very high energy, but was not receiving the energy back from the crowd. As I looked around, I hardly saw fans singing along. The crowd was a mix of young women and middle aged men, which I come to expect at indie rock shows with female lead singers. I was taken aback, expecting the crowd to have been much more high energy, especially knowing the show has been sold out for quite some time.
As the show went on, I could notice Sabrina making more and more effort to bring energy from the crowd up. She was making movements asking for more from the crowd and louder engagement. She did so even during her most popular songs, “Kiss City” and “Salad,” older songs from the “Blondshell” album. As I looked around, very few people were singing along, but erupted in cheers and applause between each song. From my view on the side, I could see a clump of fans at the barricade and front of the pit who were giving it their all the entire show, and maybe more of this was happening inside the pit that I just couldn’t see from my spot in the venue. I could feel her energy levels dropping during the show, maybe in part of how little feedback she was receiving from the crowd.
Blondshell played a two song encore, and between the two songs Sabrina took time to acknowledge the show was taking place on Juneteenth. “I feel indebted to black artists, who have shaped culture with and without credit for hundreds of years,” she said. “There would be absolutely no pop music and certainly no rock ‘n’ roll without generations and generations of art made by black musicians in America.”
She emphasized that resistance for white people should also include looking into predominantly white spaces they are a part of. She specifically included the indie rock genre, which she said has a “really bad whiteness problem, and that the onus is on white people to solve and take actionable steps towards fixing.” I feel it is important to point out that Blondshell’s band is made up of entirely white presenting people. “I think it’s important to name it, so I’m naming it here in front of you because I have the microphone right now.”
She finished her acknowledgement with more statements on the state of the world, calling out exclusionary feminism, and stating that nobody is illegal on stolen land.
I went into this show still not knowing much of Blondshell’s discography, but I had an enjoyable time. I think the band sounded great live and put on a good performance. I wish the crowd had given more energy, as it was such a noticeable aspect to me during the show, I sometimes found myself taking the time to observe the crowd’s behavior instead of watching Blondshell on stage. I would see Blondshell again, and I hope she returns to Boston.