Read previous – Weyes Blood @ Johnny Brenda’s
Weyes Blood, the project of singer-songwriter Natalie Mering, performed the second of 2 sold out homecoming shows at Union Transfer (aka, the spaghetti church) in Philly on Wednesday, March 1st. The Doylestown, PA-raised artist is currently on her In Holy Flux Tour supporting her latest LP And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, released late last year (a follow-up to her 2019 breakout album Titanic Rising). Preceding her run of dates supporting Kacey Musgraves in 2019, we were lucky enough to catch her at Johnny Brenda’s on her last headlining tour – check out our coverage of that show here.
An objectively flawless masterpiece, Titanic Rising is one of my favorite albums of all time. Weyes Blood’s brand of melodic chamber pop (complemented by Mering’s silky smooth Karen Carpenter-esque alto vocals) harkens back to an earlier time, while simultaneously being fresh and current. Her melancholy crooning has also become my de facto replacement for a not-to-be-named vegan frontman who I finally just had to quit. The second chapter in a trilogy (with Titanic Rising being the first), And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow continues the trend with its grand aspirations and immaculate production and puts Weyes Blood in a league of her own. Described as a dystopian romance novel, it’s an album that deserves your full attention.
Bathed in red light, Mering and band kicked off the night with Hearts Aglow opening track/lead single “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody” – it was immediately clear that Weyes Blood isn’t an act that requires studio trickery to achieve its sound. Complementing the song’s forlorn lyrics, Mering lightheartedly danced and spun with her cape accompanied by crowd cheers. Addressing her Philly roots, she gave Doylestown a shout out and recounted taking a SEPTA Regional Line into the city to get to shows, before launching into Titanic Rising track “A Lot’s Gonna Change”. When asking if anyone was in attendance for night 1, she joked that it must’ve only been 4 people when the response was less than deafening. For “God Turn Me Into a Flower”, they performed in near darkness other than visuals from documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis projected behind the band.
Photographers were let into the pit as the band performed Titanic Rising breakout song “Everyday”, which saw Mering take duties on keys and had the crowd moshing (yes, actually). A glowing heart revealed itself on Mering’s chest midway through “Twin Flame”, an allusion to the Hearts Aglow theme and album artwork. At the crowd’s request, they performed “Something to Believe” for the first song of their encore. Mering closed out the night with a moving solo acoustic performance of “Bad Magic”, from her 2014 LP The Innocents.
Weyes Blood will be continuing on their North American tour through the spring and will be back in the area again in the summer on dates supporting Beck and Phoenix – see all of their upcoming tour dates here. Check out the music video for “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody” below and keep scrolling to see more photos from the show, including opener Molly Lewis.
