LAURA JANE GRACE & THE DEVOURING MOTHERS PLAY BOSTON

Easter is generally thought of as a holiday with family to celebrate rebirth of a savior. This past Sunday at the Sinclair was just that. A holiday spent with family to celebrate Laura Jane Grace.

 

The show opened with a set from Control Top. This powerful trio flew through a set of post-punk music much to the crowd’s delight. It’s unfortunate that the show was so early and many that showed up later missed this band. The songs were electric and took the crowd’s full attention with ease. Late in the set, the lead singer and bassist Ali Carter, hopped in the crowd to sing at a bunch of audience members much to their delight. Check out their recently released debut record as it is almost as intense as the performance was.

 

Mercy Union was up next on the bill. As an alt-indie quartet, it was a different sound than was expected to be touring with The Devouring Mothers. The crowd seemed restless during their set though in anticipation of seeing Laura.

 

When Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers took the stage, the air in the room changed. It was charged with so much energy that had someone needed it, it could have revived them. The trio is Grace’s solo project from Against Me! but the sound is still all hers. Grace and company ripped through a 20 song set in under an hour and the crowd could barely catch their breath. The set was littered with originals such as “Amsterdam Hotel Room” and “Manic Depression,” as well as covers from bands like The Mountain Goats (“Dilaudid”), The Replacements (“Androgynous”) and, of course, Against Me! (“Ache With Me”).

 

Through the set, Grace apologized for the roughness of her voice being that it was day forty-two of the tour and expressed her dismay as she “hadn’t even smoked weed in weeks”. Someone in the crowd asked if she was still eating edibles and something was not so slyly passed to cheers and laughter from the audience. The show closed with Grace on stage alone with her guitar. The crowd knew what was coming but was still ecstatic and full of energy over it. Grace covered the Against Me! song True Trans Soul Rebel with the crowd screaming and singing along. It was absolutely a celebration of rebirth with family, just not always the traditional type.

 

Photos: Bryan Lasky

 

Words: Lauren Byrnes