I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: March 8, 2018] Jessica Lea Mayfield

I first saw Jessica Lea Mayfield (who I’d assumed was a country singer) on a Tiny Desk Concert back in 2016 (it aired in 2014 when she had just released Make My Head Sing…).  She had pink hair, electric guitars and a lot of glitter.  And her sound was decidedly grungy.  At the time I remember thinking that the contrasts she brought–her delicate voice, her simple but poignant songs, her look, and her promise that her shows get really loud–were really compelling.  So when last November she scheduled a date at Boot & Saddle, I was bummed that I couldn’t go.  But then she cancelled the date and it was rescheduled to March.  And so she became my second show in a pretty long string of shows this month.

I really like her latest album Sorry Is Gone.  And once again her look is very different–she quite glammed up on the album cover.  So I didn’t know what to expect when she came out.  And that was all the more thrilling.  When she finally did come out, green hair, blue nail polish, yellow heels and a flower dress, it was just a perfect microcosm of everything I think about Jessica Lea Mayfield.

The surprise came when Audrey from Mal Blum and the Blums came back onstage.  This time she was playing bass for JLM.  If you’re doing double duty on a night, it’s probably fun to switch instruments.  On drums was Emily Maxwell who plays with Daddy Issues.

When Jessica came up on stage, she was unabashedly polite and rather sweet.  She has a quiet voice (in song and speaking) and thanked us all for coming.

I loved looking at all of the stickers on her guitar and took pictures because I knew my daughter would like them, too.

She opened with the rocking opener from her album, “Wish You Could See Me Now.”  Then a middle album song, WTF” which she explained stood for “White trash fighting.”  It was really neat watching her coolly polish off the riff to “Meadow.”

She said the next song was about washing your hands.  “There’s not too many song about that subject.”  It was a great version of “Offa My Hands.”

At some point early in the show, a drunk woman shouted out for “Seein* Starz.”  JLM ignored the request but a guy behind us said “don’t be an asshole,” I assume to the requester.  Regardless, it made JLM say “oh my,” in her adorable drawl.  She had commented a number of times how quiet and respectful we were as an audience.  And indeed, it was almost uncomfortable how quiet everyone was between songs (unlike some audiences).  During one of the silences someone calmly stated, “thank you for coming back, Jessica, I hope you’re feeling better.”  She was delighted by that.  “Thank you so much for talking so nicely to me.  You don’t have to shout things at me, I’m not a puppet.”  She thanked the guy, Bob (she asked his name) and proceeded with the next song.

On “Kiss Me Again,” the single from her debut album, Audrey did backup vocals

Then Audrey and Emily left the stage (amusingly that meant they were standing with the audience).  Somehow it transpired that Jessica thought we might all leave as well.  There was some joking before she played a short solo set of older songs.  She started with “Nervous Lonely Night” and “Standing in the Sun.”  She finished off the mini solo set with the new song “Safe 2 Connect 2” which is solo on the record as well.

Then the band came back up and they began to rock out some more.  JLM confessed that the next song had the word “bum” in it and they proceeded to play “Bum Me Out.”

Then she played the single “Sorry Is Gone” and two more from her new album “Maybe Whatever” and “Soaked Through.”  They all sounded great.

That was the end of the new songs.  As always when artists don’t pay everything from an album, I wonder why she left out “World Won’t Stop” and “Too Much Terrible”  (Normally I’d say time issues, but she was off long before the curfew).

Then it was back to the previous records with “I wanna Love You.”

 

Before she played “Blue Skies Again.” she told us it was going to be the last song.  Unless, she confessed, we  cheered for her and asked her to come back and do one more, then she might have another one for us–but we’ll forget this conversation ever happened.

When the song ended, Audrey and Emily left the stage and Jessica walked behind the curtain at the back of the stage (quite visible to all of us). 

After a minute or so she came back out informing is that it was a very small green room (it looks like the curtain simply covers the back wall.

She came out and played “Seein* Starz” solo, which of course made the drunk woman very happy as she sang along.  It sounded great and was a wonderful end to the set.

She’d only played for an hour or so.  I used to be bummed by a short show, but honestly I was happy to get home before midnight.  And come on, the tickets were $15, I definitely got more than $15 worth of joy from this show.

SETLIST

1. Wish You Could See Me Now
2. WTF
3. Meadow
4. Offa My Hands
5. Kiss Me Again [Blasphemy]
6. Nervous Lonely Night (solo) [Tell Me]
7. Standing In The Sun  (solo) [Head]
8. Safe 2 Connect 2  (solo)
9. Bum Me Out
10. Sorry Is Gone
11. Maybe Whatever
12. Soaked Through
13. I Wanna Love You [Head]
14. Blue Skies Again [Tell Me]
15. encore
16. Seein* Starz  (solo) [Head]

[Blasphemy]= 2008: With Blasphemy So Heartfelt
[Tell Me] = 2011: Tell Me
[Head] = 2014: Make My Head Sing
everything else = 2017: Sorry Is Gone