Photos by Oliver Lopena
UK sister folk trio The Staves performed at Johnny Brenda’s in Philly on 5/15 (read show preview here). It was the first night of their North American headlining tour, which will be taking them across the US (including 1 date in Canada) through the end of June. The last time they were in town was during their 2012 “Austin to Boston Tour”, which saw them playing World Cafe Live with fellow Communion Records artists Ben Howard, Nathaniel Rateliff, and Bear’s Den.
During the show, they played through a majority of their excellent 2012 debut LP Dead & Born & Grown (see set list below). They even performed a yet-to-be-released song “Roy”, which is apparently about someone they “really hate”. FYI, their sound was absolute perfection. The ladies also shared their most recent Philadelphia exploits, such as running up the “Rocky steps” and relating their challenges ordering cheesesteaks from Geno’s (describing the process, as well as the sandwich, as “abrasive yet firm”). Emily Staveley-Taylor (the oldest sister) even spoke an excerpt from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, proving that banter is always funnier with a posh British accent. Seriously, I love this band.
Below is the official music video for “Mexico” from Dead & Born & Grown. You can listen to the album in its entirety on Spotify. See all of their upcoming tour dates here.
The Staves – Setlist:
Gone Tomorrow
The Motherlode
Pay Us No Mind
In The Long Run
Roy
Tongue Behind My Teeth
Mexico
Facing West
Wisely & Slow
Winter Trees
Eagle Song
::Encore::
Icarus
Dead & Born & Grown
Opening for The Staves were the fantastic Nashville duo (decked out in a jumpsuit and mariachi outfit) Escondido. They’ve just released their debut LP The Ghost of Escondido (listen on Spotify), which they self-describe as sounding like “Clint Eastwood playing pop songs at one of the honky-tonks downtown”. Alternately, it has also been described as sounding like “desert sex”. Watch their official music video for “Black Roses” here.
Keep scrolling to see more photos from the show.
