Last night I headed over to the Majestic Theatre for Snail Mail with special guests Momma and Hotline TNT! Check out our photos and recap of the show below.
Hotline TNT
Hotline TNT is one of those bands that's sometimes hard to find on your own--they have minimal social media and unlike most up-and-coming bands, frontman Will Anderson isn't trying to blow up a song on TikTok. They're maybe even an unusual choice on paper for a Snail Mail bill--Hotline TNT is a small punky shoegaze group out of New York with a growing cult of fans familiar with house shows and DIY scenes.
But Snail Mail fans are paying attention--and it's hard not to with five band members cramped on Majestic's snug stage together producing the lush, crunchy sound that makes up their discography. They drift between songs from their new EP, When You Find Out, and their beloved 2019 album, Nineteen in Love. Even with Anderson having roots in Wisconsin and Minnesota, their tone speaks more to the fullness of NYC shoegaze than to Midwest emo. It's songs like "Stampede," "Hard 2 Try" and "Tie-Dye" that even encourage a humble mosh pit in the center of the floor.
The guys are fun to watch too, pushing each other while playing, shouting out family members in the crowd, breaking snare drums and taking a moment to sing one of their guitarists, "Happy Birthday."
Momma
The sold out crowd is an interesting one--there's not quite a clear demo or age packed into the room. Even the front row is a mix of kids with X'ed out hands and Gen-Xers with freshly-bought Snail Mail merch. When the Momma band walks on stage, however, it's the 20-somethings that yell the loudest.
It feels like Etta and Allegra of Momma have skipped the struggling new band thing and gone straight into Sirius XMU interviews with a verified Instagram account. Their online discography dates back to 2018, but it's their 2020 album, Two of Me, that quickly caught the ears of alt-rock lovers and certified them as the grungy 2020 Artist You Need to Know from Rolling Stone. I first discovered the group when "Biohazard" landed in a recommendation playlist, and two years later, they're taking 2022 by storm with Household Name, a 12-track LP filled with brilliant songwriting and a cohesiveness still dynamic and compelling in its 45 minutes. Every other alt-rock radio station in the country is begging for an interview with the sisters, and it's pretty obvious why.
Momma is a well-rehearsed, accurate machine. Their vocal performance sounds identical to recording and their harmonies never falter. If anyone in the band misses a note or a beat, it goes unnoticed. Allegra, the taller sister, seems to be the most comfortable talking to a crowd. Etta isn't totally quiet, occasionally cracking jokes and being more interactive towards the end of the set. The crowd is definitely making an attempt to mosh for some songs, but it never fully catches on. They close with "Rockstar," the liveliest of their set--the crowd yells back, "Still need a drummer/The last one quit the band."
Snail Mail
The pre-show playlist is somewhat funny: there's a bit of indie stuff, and strangely a lot of hip hop. At one point, "Way 2 Sexy" by Drake fills the room. The crowd isn't as excited like a nightclub crowd might be.
When the lights dim for the third time and the Snail Mail ensemble walk on stage, everyone is preparing for a rosy night.
You might not hear singer Lindsey Jordan, known as Snail Mail, and her lovesick anthems playing frequently on a Top 40 station, but she's a big hitter in indie scenes, grabbing radio time early in her career with songs like "Pristine" on her debut album and more recently, a handful of songs from her sophomore album, Valentine, which was one of my top ten albums of 2021. She shares fans with other indie pop/rock singers like Lucy Dacus, Soccer Mommy (who's coming to Majestic this fall), and yes, even Phoebe Bridgers, despite their apparent beef.
Lindsey starts with "Heat Wave," one of her most popular bittersweet anthems. She comes from a pop punk background, so even in her prettiest songs, she at least hints at a little distorted guitar. Madison's show, along with a handful of others, was postponed from December 2021. It's perhaps more fitting that we're here on the last day of August, packed into a sold out room, flushing from the warmth.
Throughout her performance, Lindsey is asking the sound booth to adjust her track--it's a small detail, but at times she seems frustrated at whatever is coming through her in-ears. There's few moments of Lindsey talking or interacting with the crowd--it's a tight set, with a 16-song setlist packed into an hour. She still manages to sneak in a Smashing Pumpkins cover, which few of those with X'ed out hands are able to sing along to. At a quiet point in the set when Lindsey tunes her guitar, a fan in the crowd asks for her astrological sign. She's a Gemini with a Leo rising and moon, by the way.
One of the many strengths on Snail Mail's Valentine is Lindsey's breezy vocals that sound like she's singing post-cry. It's lines like, "So why'd you wanna erase me?/Darling, valentine," where her almost-strained vocals enhance the broken-hearted lusty narrative. In live performance, it's harder to execute. The band walks off stage for "Mia," the acoustic bittersweet album closer, and Lindsey and her guitarist stay on for the calmest section of the show. The song is a difficult one vocally, so we can hardly blame her for struggling to get to the highest notes. It's a stunning instrumental performance, with her acoustic melody and her guitarist's reverby fill. Lindsey takes on an acoustic version of "Adore You" alone, and the band slowly steps on stage for "Valentine," which nearly everyone sings along to. There's no time to pretend to leave for an encore, so they move straight into "Pristine" with a surprise appearance from Momma and Hotline TNT members who are mostly providing visual entertainment in party hats. It's a fitting way to conclude--everyone on stage is laughing until the last note.