Marissa Nadler, Alela Diane & Lucy Michelle @ 7th St. Entry

[Lucy Michelle]

One of the perils of playing Minneapolis’ 7th St. Entry is that there is only a thin wall separating the tiny club from the First Avenue Mainroom, leading to a fair amount of noise bleed from some of the louder acts. And as far as noise goes, Wednesday night’s imbalance between Dinosaur Jr. (Mainroom) and a three band female folk lineup (the Entry) was about as large a gulf as there is. However, even though whenever the door opened the ladies were drowned out by J. Mascis’ screaming guitar; they still put on an admirably lovely show.

[Lucy Michelle]

Local singer Lucy Michelle opened the evening with her band the Velvet Lapelles notably absent. It has been a long time since I have seen Michelle play solo, but if anything, the stripped down set helped the sweetness of her songwriting shine. There were a few points where you could tell Michelle was just filling the space where her band normally played, particularly in “Traffic” where the absence of cello and handclaps was potent. Overall though it was one of the more memorable shows from Michelle I have seen as of late, due to her more relaxed singing (she didn’t have to shout over the band).

[Alela Diane]

[Alela Diane]

[Alela Diane]

[Alela Diane]

Alela Diane took the stage next, a West coast folksinger whose To Be Still is probably the best folk record released this year (next to Cate Le Bon’s Me Oh My). Diane’s natural stage presence and relaxed manner produced a warm and intimate show that featured standouts “White As Diamonds” and the crowd-requested “The Rifle.” Diane also covered Louisiana songwriter Dylan LeBlanc’s “If the Good Lord’s Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise” prompting me to make a mental note to check out the young artist as soon as possible. Surprisingly Alina Hardin was not on hand to backup Diane on vocals, since the two recently collaborated on the fantastic Alela and Alina EP. Diane was backed up, however, by the talented Tom Bevitori on bass, whose back and forth banter with the crowd brought some levity to the set (especially Bevitori’s story of accidentally drooling in front of a Cracker Barrel employee). Overall Diane’s performance was nothing short of magical, with her saccharine vocals bringing the club to a standstill.

[Alela Diane]

[Alela Diane]

[Alela Diane]

[Marissa Nadler]

[Marissa Nadler]

[Marissa Nadler]

Boston songwriter Marissa Nadler headlined the concert, backed up by an extremely deft guitarist (whose name I must apologize for not catching). Nadler brought a quiet intensity to her dreamy, atmospheric vocals, and displayed an admirable mastery of the 12 string guitar (considering she is self-taught). Nadler covered a number of tracks from her recent LP, Little Hells, though my only regret was that the gorgeous “River of Dirt” was not one of them. Visibly nervous onstage, Nadler confessed to crippling stage fright and frequently apologized for imagined shortcomings. No apology was necessary though, as Nadler’s otherworldly vocals put the audience under a deep spell. One couldn’t help but wonder what she might be capable of free from the constraints of anxiety. Great things, I think, since even in her nervous state Nadler was nothing short of incredible.

[Marissa Nadler]

[Marissa Nadler]

[Marissa Nadler]

Marissa Nadler: Purchase | Official | Twitter | MySpace | Wikipedia
Alela Diane: Purchase | Official | MySpace | Wikipedia
Lucy Michelle: Purchase | Twitter | MySpace

Also: Alela Diane “To Be Still” Review