The atmosphere in the room was electric, with energy radiating from both the ecstatic crowd and the band.

Juice, a genre-bending septuplet originally formed at Boston College, drew a sold-out crowd to their homecoming show at Brighton Music Hall. Pulling influences from rock, R&B, and hip-hop, the band’s sound is uniquely vibrant through flairs of electric violin and soulful vocals.

The atmosphere in the room was electric, with energy radiating from both the ecstatic crowd and the band. With big smiles and a bold stage presence, it was clear to see that the Boston hometown show was a meaningful one for Juice. The crowd joined in with the chorus refrains, clearly fond of the band’s repertoire. Many of the audience members were wearing Boston College sweaters, t-shirts and hats which led to me think that they had been a part of Juice’s initial entrance into the Boston music scene during their time at BC a few years ago. The familiarity between the band and the crowd created a sweet sense of community throughout their set.

That same bond was immediately recognizable between the band members themselves. They were obviously having the time of their life playing together. Their arrangements included many instrumental interludes featuring violin, electric guitar and bass solos. While the transitions could have been more polished, the flow of the set definitely illustrated the personality of the band and their love for jamming with one another. The solos showcased not only the talent of each player, but also the admiration that members of Juice have for each other. The others would watch in appreciation as the soloists built the tension and excitement in the room through their spirited improvisation.

The impressive instrumental showcases throughout the set were complemented by the gifted lead vocalist. Ben Stevens’ voice has a pitch range to envy, diving into his lower range with precision and a heart-melting honey tone and then easily soaring up into higher range vocal runs that burst with energy and neo soul flair.

The band played some songs from their previous albums as well as two newer crowd favourites, “Dave (Turn the Music Down)” and “Aubrey Tell Me.” They hinted at some new, unreleased songs that were slightly more pop rock, which I found to lack the layered, substantive feel of tracks like “Dave (Turn the Music Down)” however were still musically compelling and sure-fire earworms. The scope of genres in their discography shows the wide breadth of inspirations they draw from… and manage to pull off.

At the end of their set, the crowd didn’t just request one more song. They shouted, “ten more songs!” until the band finally emerged back onto stage and satisfied the crowd with their summer tinted song, “Coconut.” Juice’s show was a hit with the Boston crowd and almost felt like a class reunion. It was definitely a fun one to watch.

Juice comes home to a sold-out crowd

Even after two encore songs, the audience was still begging for more, cheering and clapping until finally the house lights had to be turned on to take them out of their reverie.

Emily King owned the stage at The Sinclair, dazzling the audience with her polished, slick and endlessly fun show. With songs dripping in stylish groove and a performance persona that is larger than life yet feels intimate with her fans, King left the audience begging for more.

The opening act for Emily King was similarly stunning. Jennah Bell brought a breath-taking set of songs featuring just her voice and electric guitar. With a voice that seems timelessly connected to the emotive story-telling of classic female country artists and arrangements that bend genres between jazz, blues and indie rock, Bell’s set felt completely fresh.

After Jennah Bell’s set, the crowd waited anxiously for Emily King to step onto stage. Her entrance was worth the wait. She embodied an empowered, badass femininity, wearing a military-style coat and sunglasses. Her stylised, energetic performance style combined with her distinctive outfit felt reminiscent of Michael Jackson in the very best way.

Instrumentation throughout the set was tight with bold bass riffs and electric backing vocals, brought by Rhetta Simone and Shanay Johnson who are also involved with Alabama Shakes. The chemistry between King, Simone and Johnson was effervescent, heightened by moments of choreographed moves. Not only did these moments of synchronization contribute to the incredibly polished performance, it also added a layer of fun that was contagious.

Emily King took her set way beyond just a concert to a full performance production. The instrumentation and layering of the drums, bass, keys, electric, tracks and vocals was considered and always had room for each part to be appreciated. The musicianship of those on stage was undeniably impressive and the rhythms from the drums and bass provided non-stop momentum.

The set was carefully constructed to craft a story arc within the performance, beginning with upbeat, sassy songs like “Remind Me” and “Can’t Hold Me” transitioning to more vulnerable moments like “Forgiveness” and “Teach You”. The audience was taken with King through the story of each song individually and then got the additional satisfaction of the whole story arc of the set, returning once again to upbeat, confident songs as a resolution.

The sweetest part of the show was observing the way that King responds to fans. Each song blew the audience away and the crowd would clap and cheer from the last note of the song until King started singing the first note of the next song. Whenever they cheered, whether it was in between songs or even in the middle of the song, King would hold her hands to her chest, as if gratefully letting their adoration sink in.

It was the first time that one of Emily King’s shows has sold out in Boston and she clearly didn’t take that for granted. Throughout her set, she fostered some beautiful moments of connection with her Boston fans. At one point, she was singing a refrain without words and began to invite the audience to join in. She didn’t just repeat it once or twice though. She walked back and forth along the stage, repeating the refrain five or more times, allowing the crowd to get fully involved as she listened to them from various spots.

Even after two encore songs, the audience was still begging for more, cheering and clapping until finally the house lights had to be turned on to take them out of their reverie. Honestly, I don’t blame them. My reverie continued well after I left the building. Emily King is a sensation.

Emily King gives Cambridge a show to remember

Laura Stevenson’s newly released album, 

, carries with it all the power and strength of her soaring and tender vocals and the intimacy and thoughtfulness of gritty but warm instrumentation. From the first track, “Lay Back, Arms Out,” the combination of Stevenson’s vocals and the layered instrumentation creates a sense of hush within the listener’s mind. Listening feels like being immersed underwater and simultaneously taking a big gulp of fresh air.

Most of the tracks on the album feature dense layers of harmony, thoughtfully panned between the listener’s ears to create a sense of enclosure and proximity. In the best way, the harmonies and blend feel like they are getting right under your skin.

The mixing of the album feels honest and authentic; nothing is so polished that it becomes disconnected from its original source. Even the sliding of fingers on an acoustic guitar fretboard are allowed a place at the front of the listener’s attention. Somehow, though, moments like this aren’t a distraction but rather a validation of the perceived closeness of Stevenson’s vocals and lyrics.

The songs don’t feel pressure to explain themselves. Some of the lyrics are quite abstract, leaving the listener unsure whether the subjects of the lyrics are people or personified experiences or emotions. Depending on the listener, this will be a freedom or a frustration. Personally, I found this aspect of the songwriting to be slightly halting in the momentum of Stevenson’s vocals. Her vocals carry so much weight and dimension to them, with a haunting sense of urgency and declaration, that the listener wants to be fully engaged with the declarations and carried through the listening experience. Without the clear sense of subject matter and story, that momentum loses some of its satisfaction.

That’s not to say that the album lacks a story. However veiled that story may feel, it’s clear that the album has flow and is most truly enjoyed as a continuous body of work. This is evident through the track “Hawks” that, in itself, is quite short, however it flows so seamlessly into the next track, “Big Deep,” that the last word of the former becomes the first word of the latter.

The conviction of Stevenson’s vocals is best showcased through the track “Dermatillomania.” The song features lyrics that are more direct in terms of imagery and story. With poignant lines like, “You’re lucky that you died before I could sing” and “Now you’re exorcised from my mind,” the track embodies a sense of finding one’s voice and triumphing over the forces that would try to control or conceal one’s strength.

With Laura Stevenson’s intoxicating vocals, sweet harmonies and rich melodies, this album is definitely a recommended listen.

Laura Stevenson gets under your skin with ‘The Big Freeze’

WRBB’s Caitlyn Furler caught up with Juice members Ben Stevens and Christian Rose to talk about their college days, return to Boston and the end of their tour. Be sure to check them out at Brighton Music Hall on April 12th!

You guys are coming to Boston next week, are you excited to play Brighton, does that feel like a hometown show for you guys?

 That is sort of the ribbon on the gift that this tour was to us. It’s gonna be the last show, we’re really looking forward to it. It’s very much a homecoming for us. We haven’t been even on the East Coast in months and so to come home to where we went to school, spent four very formative years of our lives there and celebrate with all our friends that we’ve missed very dearly, in that way it’s gonna be really exciting.

 Also, a fun little factoid is that the very last show we played as students in college was at Brighton Music Hall, and we sold it out. I think a lot of the band members would tell you how special that was. We had played there a number of times over, at college, those venues specifically. Super super special to us. And I can imagine going back there is gonna be pretty emotional.

I know you guys got together through Boston College. What was your experience coming up like through the Boston indie scene, did you find that it was a good catalyst for you guys starting out?

 I definitely think that going to BC in particular gave us a unique opportunity to stand out amongst the crowd of musicians in the Boston scene because you have Berklee, which is sort of a giant for churning out really talented musicians and bands and songwriters and things like that. But BC didn’t really have a lot of that though. It gave us sort of a leg up and a chip on our shoulder but also, our sound is sort of different from like that typical Boston sound that you often hear about, so, I think that was also a unique opportunity for us to stand out as well. But, we definitely made a lot of friends. There’s an endless reservoir of talented people there. So, we were able to learn from other people and sort of forge our own path in that way. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 Yeah networking with the other bands in the scene and learning, like Ben said, sort of what it was like to be a band and seeing, even though we think that our sound is a little bit different from some of the other groups in the scene – obviously every band thinks like that – but watching some of these bigger bands come out and grow and start to succeed and tour nationally sort of gave us some direction and gave us an idea that we could maybe do it ourselves… Coming up in Boston I think was a part of our identity by the end of it.

How do you guys go about songwriting as a group?

I think that this is like the most fun thing to answer because it really just depends completely on the situation and the person and where the source of inspiration comes from. Like sometimes we’ll just all be chilling in a basement batting around ideas. Like Miles maybe starts to groove on something or someone is fiddling around on their guitar or fiddle. Then a random jam will spurn and then like, ‘Sugar’ will happen. And then that’s when we like just get into an absolute zone and everyone’s grooving on a hundred percent. … Random shit from anywhere can just inspire you and spark the flame.

Sometimes it comes from the music. Sometimes it comes from life experience, sometimes it comes from a line of lyrics that one person wrote down and it just explodes into a whole song. It really comes from everywhere, everyone. I don’t think there’s a song on, you know, that we’ve released that hasn’t been sort of through that process of exploding.

 It really does come from everywhere. People ask us, like, ‘oh you’re not answering the question’ or whatever. But, no really, because there’s no one point that songwriting comes from. And there’s all these answers that you can say.

It’s everywhere, it’s experiencing emotion and togetherness as friendship and…

 Yeah, loneliness. It’s all the things that you feel as a member of a band, as a human, as a person through experiences.

Do you guys feel like you take a lot from your college days in your songwriting?

Yes and no. I think that, inherently, you kind of have to.

 We experienced four years of school together. That was the majority of our growth, of the time that we grew as band, we were students at school. But I think there was a point when we started touring when we realized that the world is so much bigger than BC and it might’ve happened as soon as we started touring. Like the world is so big and there’s so much to experience, there’s so much more to it. It’s such a specific culture – at any college you go to – but for us at BC there was such a specific culture that we felt like was a big part of our identity and…

 I think the acknowledgement of that meant that we could no longer feel like that was… that being, you know, ‘guys from BC’ was the band. I think now we just want to be people who experienced that, it will always inform our writing and our personalities, but it’s not who we are. I mean, it’s a certain part of who we are but we’re just people who are experiencing the world and experiencing each other.

So, what’s the plans for you guys coming up after this tour?

 So, after this tour. We’ve been in and out of the studio over the past few months, cooking up some bangers. So, we’re really excited to share that with everybody. Again, it’s like a new sort of phase of the Juice musical discography. And the new phase of our lives that we want to share with everybody. So that’s exciting. We got some videos coming out. A bunch of college shows. And another summer tour coming up as well in late June.

Thanks so much guys for talking to me. Enjoy the rest of your tour until you come to Boston next week!


Q&A with Juice’s Ben Stevens and Christian Rose

While sweet and down-to-earth in nature, Meg Mac sure doesn’t hold back when it comes to her songwriting.

Australian pop singer/songwriter Meg Mac didn’t leave anything unsaid when she introduced herself to Boston on the first leg of her US tour. Taking the stage in front of an energetic and intimate audience at Great Scott, her Aussie charm and universal talent left the crowd begging for more.

Meg Mac at Great Scott. Photo by Caitlyn Furler for WRBB.

Alongside bad-ass electric guitar and full-bodied delay, Mac stepped onto the stage to launch the set with “Grace Gold.” Her commanding stage presence and heart-stopping vocals won the crowd over in the first 20 seconds, with collective “woahs” resounding from around the room.

Mac didn’t tame her performance at all for the small Tuesday night crowd; her set felt polished enough to be seen on a stadium stage. Her vocal ability is a knock-out in and of itself with killer tone, crafted control, and an indescribable, emotive quality that is hers alone. Performing with her sister Hannah on vocals and her guitarist, Ben, the set flowed through a full dynamic range despite the minimal instrumentation. Mac alternated between vocals and piano, even making her “debut,” as she put it, on a drum pad for one of her new songs.

Three-part harmonies added texture and tension, made more wonderful by the entwined sibling blend between Meg and Hannah’s voices. The harmonies alongside thoughtful instrumental arrangements and subtle electronic tracks ensured that the set never felt thin or insubstantial.

While sweet and down-to-earth in nature, Meg Mac sure doesn’t hold back when it comes to her songwriting. She unashamedly confronts the messy aspects of life like disappointment, desperate hope, unhealthy relationships and dishonesty with musical arrangements that embody the frustrations and create a redemptive release for all who listen.

The highlight of the night was Mac’s performance of her recent single “Give Me My Name Back.” Upon its release in October 2018, the single made a 

, becoming a local anthem for the “Me Too” movement. Mac explained to the Boston crowd that it was a song for anyone who has ever lost a part of themselves through relationships or abuse, an encouragement to take back what was stolen. The weight of the song could be felt in the room as her voice confidently rose above the minimalistic arrangement that embodied the vulnerability of the topic. With a driving, demanding bass line building the tension, Mac’s vocals broke through and declared the demand: “Give me my name back / What are they gonna call me now / I want it all back.”

As Mac stepped off the stage at the end of her set, the crowd didn’t accept that as the end and cheered relentlessly until Mac returned to the stage for what she said was an “unexpected encore.” Her down-to-earth attitude was evident when she embraced an open discussion with the crowd about what song she should do. Eventually, “Low Blows” was selected, despite Mac not having rehearsed that song for the set. She and her band rolled with it and, after a few technical hiccups, presented the audience with the requested, “very unrehearsed version of ‘Low Blows’”. Obviously, the unrehearsed aspect didn’t faze the audience, as it seemed like 90% of the crowd stuck around after the show for a chance to chat to Mac and express their admiration.

As an Australian myself, seeing the Boston crowd embrace Meg Mac with so much excitement felt like a close friend meeting another close friend. If Boston’s first impression of Meg is anything to go by, the rest of her US tour should be met with similar adoration.

Meg Mac makes a bold Boston debut at Great Scott

The self-proclaimed holler folk trio from Portland, Maine created such a weighty sense of place in their music that I felt immersed in their world, even nostalgic for somewhere I’ve never been.

As I stood in a sold-out crowd at Paradise Rock Club listening to the vibrant sounds of The Ghost of Paul Revere, I suddenly became overwhelmed with a feeling of nostalgia for Portland, Maine. This would have been normal except for the fact that I’ve never been there. The 

 holler folk trio from Portland, Maine pulled me right in and created such a weighty sense of place in their music that I felt immersed in their world, even nostalgic for somewhere I’ve never been.

Aubrey Haddard at Paradise Rock Club. Photo by Jannah Bell for WRBB.

While vastly different in genre, The Ghost of Paul Revere’s opener Aubrey Haddard had the same ability to fully immerse the audience. With her genre-bending songs that thoughtfully flowed between indie-soul and jazzy alt-rock, she continually captivated the audience with her emphatic, rich tone and honey-soaked vibrato.

Haddard certainly isn’t just a pretty voice though, her stage presence and instrumentation was empowered and confident with quirky flourishes of tambourine and driving bass. Her arrangements were mesmerizing with an ease of phrasing that enabled potent story-telling through her lyrics and vocals.

This sense of immersion led perfectly into The Ghost of Paul Revere.

Playing together as The Ghost of Paul Revere for the past seven years and having known each other for 30 years, Max Davis, Sean McCarthy and Griffin Sherry carried a sense of home and family throughout their set.

Opening with a stripped-back arrangement featuring a simple drum beat, their vocals and an accordion, the band transformed Paradise Rock Club from a room full of strangers into a living room with family and friends gathered around the balcony and the ground floor, leaning in close to join in.

If anyone in the audience still wasn’t sure about the connection between the band members, the band’s performance of “

” would have resolved their questions. With Sherry leading on acoustic guitars and vocals, Davis on banjo, McCarthy on bass and a fellow touring member on accordion, the band serenaded the room, throwing in some choreographed moves that emphasized the warm sense of camaraderie between the guys on stage.

The Ghost of Paul Revere at Paradise Rock Club. Photo by Jannah Bell for WRBB.

The Ghost of Paul Revere didn’t want to keep the dancing to themselves though. While introducing one of their slower songs McCarthy invited the audience to find a spot and get up the nerve to ask their chosen guy or girl to slow dance. Despite the venue being sold out, several cozy couples managed to find some room to take advantage of the sweet serenade.

I was impressed not only with The Ghost of Paul Revere’s inclusive stage presence, but the quality and liveliness of their performance. Despite Sherry admitting midway through the set that he had been battling a cold, all members of the band held nothing back and performed with a vigor that led Sherry at one point, after a high-intensity song, to exclaim, “Well f***, boys! That was fast!”

Their enthusiastic performance was best summed up through the performance of their song “

” which was a proud, driving anthem declaring, “

Take your northern heart with you to the grave… stand fast ye are the boys of Maine

Their enthusiasm was evident until the very last moment, the band came out for an encore and serenaded the crowd with not one song, but three. They even performed “Ghostland” as a trio arrangement for a member of the audience who called out the request many times during their main set.

I would definitely see these guys play again and will be keeping an eye on Aubrey Haddard, that girl is going places.