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Daphne Jane Setlist
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You get close enough to the end of the year, and most of the remaining brave bands battling the winter temperatures are the locals. 7th St. Entry had a great set of up-and-coming bands, with Daphne Jane headlining.
Kiernan opened first. The quartet eased in with a long and pleasant opening song. Kiernan’s self-description highlights inspiration of Big Thief and the second song is very much in that vein. Both songs were called out as world premieres, and it turned out that nearly the entire set was new. They’ll be in the studio recording soon, so be on the lookout for new material. Lead singer Laura Kiernan was enjoyably fun with her quips between songs, and she is a great front person for the band. The Americana undertones of their indie rock sound shone through with slide guitar effect, and it makes for a nice fusion of those genres with the song Unhelpful a stand out. It was fun to see that there were several super fans in Kiernan t-shirts.
Ava Levy started her set as a duo (vocals and guitar) before giving way to a quartet (drums, keys, bass and guitar), with the initial guitarist moving to drums for the remainder and Levy taking guitar duties. Since the release of her first single, not ur clown, she has quickly evolved into a must-see performer, and the backing band helps highlight her skills. The instrumental closing on not ur clown was a nice example of how Levy’s songs often change direction musically in interesting and satisfying ways. An untitled track built up to a full sound that is still centered on Levy’s breathy vocals and lead guitar work. A long tuning interlude in which Levy asked the audience for questions led to a tale of her as a fourth grader dealing with an embarrassing situation in a creative way. A crisp 30-minute set was extremely effective.
Out-of-stater(!) Ella Luna was up next. The Colorado native, who mentioned it was her first time performing in Minnesota, was a major change in tone, as she played a solo set on guitar. Technical issues prior to playing were quickly resolved by staff, which was an excellent reminder of the great work they routinely do. Luna’s folk sound had to initially battle the noisy chatter of the crowd, but she slowly won over the crowd. Luna has a trained singer’s voice and uses it to spin short stories through her songs. Mentioning her recent album, Anything to Make It Loud, had “a clothing theme”, she then immediately played Clothesline. The song Nina was from an EP that was written when she was sixteen and focused on a burgeoning romance. A cover of Janis Ian’s At Seventeen was a perfect song to highlight Luna’s strengths as a vocalist, although she lost track of lyrics near the end. A brand-new song, Ecphrasis, was one of her final numbers and included inspiration from a book club and a grammar lesson for the audience.
Event organizer and headliner Daphne Jane was last to take the stage. She played with her full band, a quintet resulting in three guitars (one bass), keyboards and drums. Starting with the Radio K favorite Next Party (I’ll Miss), the band hit strong, with those dual guitars, vocals, and even backing tracks from a computer. Noting her summer-time style outfit, she mentioned “Fashion is more important…than just about anything.”. An as yet unreleased song, Inside Joke, was next and came with a fun introductory story about how social media platforms make it harder for people from your past to just stay in the past.
A cover of The Marias No One Noticed gave the opportunity to highlight the keyboardist, and it’s always fun to get a piano player on stage, rather than someone who can just eke out chords. As the show progressed, it was clear that the banter between songs was well thought out and actually linked into telling Daphne’s journey as an artist and a person. It was an extremely effective approach that reinforced the power of the individual songs into a coherent musical vision.
The song sleepyhead had the appearance of slide guitar effect and strong opening and closing keyboard solos, and while Daphne Jane is the focal point, she’s clearly comfortable giving other band members their moments to shine in various songs. A cover of Clairo’s Sexy to Someone brought Ella Luna back on stage, adding a layer of vocals, and a swing dancing moment with Daphne Jane during a solo. The encore song, Months, had a great bass line powering the song and was a perfect close to a wonderful performance.
I spoke with Daphne after the show and asked her to talk about her August performance next door at First Ave., opening for Washed Out, as a very last-minute replacement for Babehoven. She described the situation as hectic and stressful, but also recognized the great opportunity to perform for a large audience that might not be familiar with her work. The First Ave show needed to be all the comfortable songs, the ones she and Nate (guitarist) knew they could nail. And given how stressful that situation could be, she largely dissociated herself (“like observing myself”) to ensure that all those years of practice could shine. I then asked Daphne to compare it to the set she had just finished. Having organized the entire evening, it was clear she was proud of how it had come off. She spoke to how much fun she could have with the smaller and very supportive crowd. With there being little to prove, it allowed her and the band to take chances, including playing two unreleased songs and their first time trying to add the backing tracks. The safety of the small, end of year crowd let Daphne Jane and the band free to experiment, and everyone from band to crowd got a better performance for it. Well look forward to more from Daphne Jane in 2025 (maybe with warmer weather).
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Daphne Jane at 7th Street (12 Dec 2024) |
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| thaddeus ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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