I Just Read About That…

[DID NOT ATTEND: February 7, 2025] Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory

I saw Sharon Van Etten live back in 2019.  I really enjoyed her set more than I thought I would.  And yet since then I haven’t really been that interested in her music as much.

She’s had a few songs (like this year’s Afterlife) that I’ve really liked, but when she announced a show at Union Transfer in April I was pretty meh about it.

Then it was announced that she and her new band were doing a Free at Noon, and I though that that was the best way to check her out.  And I’m so glad I went because her band (and the whole set) was fantastic.

I’m not sure how long these musicians have been playing with her, but word is that she solidified them as a band with this album and they record the album as a band rather than as a SVE project with backing musicians.  The Attachment Theory is Teeny Lieberson on keys, Shanna Polley on guitar, Jorge Balbi on drums, and bassist Devra Hoff.   When I saw her last time I didn’t know any of her band except for singer Heather Woods Broderick whose voice is amazing.  But Teeny Lieberson’s backing vocals suited Sharon’s perfectly, creating that hauntingly beautiful sound that Sharon does so well.

I was right in front of Devra, whose bass work was great (there was a some cool stuff on a fretless as well as a fretted bass).  The bass was a little loud in the mix for me since I was right in front of the speaker, but the opening bassline of Trouble was fantastic and I loved watching Devra play it.

It was the release day of the album so I didn’t know any of the other songs, but I did know Afterlife, which I have come to really like.  And I’m pleased to report that it sounded great live too.

There’s a lot of synth on the new album (Teeny played keys and Sharon played keys and occasional guitar).  Southern Life was heavy in the synth as well, but with a dark and gritty sound.  SVE really started performing for this song as well (since she wasn’t playing anything).  She is engaging as a performing–gesturing and dancing with her band.

During the pause between songs, a baby made a sound and Sharon laughed saying she loved noon shows there’s babies and coffee!

I Can’t Imagine has another great bass line.  And again, it was fun watching Devra get really into it.  I wish I had known the song at all because there’s a cool part where she goes STOP and everyone stops but the bass keeps playing and she shouts STOP again.  Oh no, they’re starting to care!  The song ends with a fantastic bassline.

Something Ain’t Right felt perfectly times to 2025.  During this song that Shann Polley stepped up and played a nifty guitar solo–she had been playing for the whole show but I think she was drowned out by the bass for me.  I look forward to hearing the recording of the show to get a better mix.

She then dedicated Tarifa to David Lynch.  Teeny came over to Sharon’s keys and they sang together, which was quite lovely.

When Sharon introduced Everytime the Sun Comes Up, she said they were going to play an old song in a new way.   And then she forgot the words to the second verse.  The crowd loved it as she rolled her eyes and walked to each band member (who kept playing) trying to figure out what to sing.  I even tried to look up the words on my phone, but by the time they came up, she had moved on to the final part of the song, finishing by saying that that song had too many words anyhow.

It was a really fun set and ran about 45 minutes.

I enjoyed it enough that I did consider going to see her again in April, but her show is the night before two more nights of shows and I think that many in a row is too many.

I also wasn’t sure how many Free at Noons I wanted to go to anymore, but this one was a huge success!

[∉] = and the Attachment Theory (2025)
[Ø] = We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong (2022)
[⇔] = Remind Me Tomorrow (2018)
[Δ] = Are We There (2014)
[¥] = Tramp (2012)
[€] = Epic (2010)