Photo Credit: Eddie Whelan<\/p>\n
Review by Robin Sheng<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n On July 7, Black Country, New Road took the stage at Roadrunner for a perfect midsummer indie showcase. The band took the stage confidently in casual summer outfits and displayed effortless chemistry despite the band\u2019s major shift after the departure of their lead singer, Isaac Wood, in 2022.\u00a0 Current members, Tyler Hyde, May Kershaw, and Georgia Ellery have toured continuously over the past four years while releasing one album, \u201cForever Howlong,\u201d in 2025. Their current sound is centered around layered, orchestral arrangements and three rotating vocalists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The night opened with Chicago band Horsegirl, which played several unreleased songs. The new material continued the relatively stripped-down, distortion-free sound of the group\u2019s most recent album, \u201cPhonetics On and On.\u201d While the sound did not match the energy on their recorded versions, the band brought unique iterations that suited the Roadrunner stage.<\/span><\/p>\n After the energetic and playful performance from Horsegirl, Black Country, New Road took the stage with widespread applause. Their opening song, \u201cSocks,\u201d was an essential demonstration of band member Tyler Hyde\u2019s songwriting capabilities. The song goes through several distinct sections without adhering to an organized sense of structure. At times, the performance felt sprawling as it approached the outro, but was a compelling performance throughout.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The band shined even brighter in their performance of \u201cTwo Horses.\u201d The song began with a slow, stripped-back introduction that established the scene of a horseback rider traveling alone through a desolate landscape. The following sections tell a heartbreaking narrative, reaching its climax when the narrator\u2019s horse is killed. During this lyrical climax, the instrumentation swelled, resulting in a frantic feeling of emotional release.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The dramatic storytelling continued with \u201cNancy Tries to Take the Night,\u201d which explores the emotional complexity of an abortion. Longtime member Lewis Evans elevated the performance with his woodwind feature. The use of unconventional time signatures in the intro created a liminal atmosphere and an uncertainty that matched the song\u2019s lyrical explorations of decision-making and complex family relationships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Not all of the band\u2019s songs were so experimental, with more standard performances like \u201cStrangers\u201d encapsulating their energy in a more toned down style.\u00a0 Newest released song off of the multi-artist compilation album \u201cHELP (2),\u201d \u201cStrangers had a powerful chorus whose live performance greatly outshone the in-studio version.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Later on, the single \u201cMary\u201d from \u201cForever Howlong\u201d testified to the band\u2019s stylistic diversity. The performance relied solely on the harmonized vocals between the three co-lead vocalists and subtle backing guitars. The end result was intimate, though the restrained production choices did not fully capture the energy the song seemed to demand in a live setting.<\/span><\/p>\n Black Country, New Road\u2019s set did not feature any unreleased songs, but did include two covers. They began the cover segment with \u201cThe Ballad of El Goodo,\u201d by 1970s power pop, Big Star. The dialed back rhythms of Big Star transformed into a theatrical iteration on stage, creating a lively, distorted energy in the crowd. The instrumental strength the band used in its performance elevated its intensity. The choice to the cover song revealed the band\u2019s inspirations from enigmatic 1970s artists.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The band ended the show with Paul McCartney and Wings\u2019 \u201cBand on the Run.\u201d Horsegirl was invited back onto the stage, together creating a fun and playful energy during the ending section of the entire show. The moment ended the night on a high note, the familiar lyrics and mid-song change of pace brought a dancing energy into the crowd one last time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo Credit: Eddie Whelan Review by Robin Sheng On July 7, Black Country, New Road took the stage at Roadrunner for a perfect midsummer indie showcase. The band took the stage confidently in casual summer outfits and displayed effortless chemistry despite the band\u2019s major shift after the departure of their lead singer, Isaac Wood, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26199,"featured_media":54186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1525,1523,15],"tags":[2727,1926],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54178"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54178"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54185,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54178\/revisions\/54185"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}