Pop Princess

On Friday, I was at a show sponsored by local music festival Venus Fest which promotes "feminism in music". Given headliner's Ivy Mairi recent pop offerings, I was wondering if the typical seated set-up at The Burdock, though usually appreciated, would be a good fit. Tonight, they split the difference with half the room having chairs and the rest of us can move and dance.

Carmen Elle opened the evening. I was impressed with her solo material from a few weeks ago. With a trio including slinky bass, muscular drums, and even 3-part harmonies, her set was even more enjoyable. Her dry wit caused laughter with every between-song banter: from the irony of getting PMS on International Women's Day to a mock plea to Mairi to include her on some songs, given that half of the latter's band were members of Carmen Elle's group Diana.

With Ivy Mairi's folk music background, she opened with the introspective There Is A Thing from Nonbeliever, slightly changed to dream-pop. But the new EP was her foray into pop with drummer Kieran Adams, so most of her set was catchy 80s-inspire music. But her folk roots often peeked through (Prayer and Polarity) giving them lyrical depths not usually found in Top 40 songs. Taken inspiration from Feminism (not just women) in music, and musical suggestions from her activist mother, she entranced the sold-out audience with an old suffragette song called Bread and Roses. Her set ended with the dance banger Strange Love (easily a Top 10 or better if sung by a mainstream artist), and a cover of Donna Lewis' I Love You Always Forever. Mairi's band gave her music layers and oomph with Caitlin Woelfle-O'Brien (Blunt Chunks) being an almost co-singer and adding frequent background harmonies.