Read previous – Miya Folick with Aly & AJ at The Fillmore Philly
LA-based vocalist, songwriter, and producer Miya Folick played The Foundry in Philly on Sunday, October 8th along with Epitaph recording artist Babebee. We caught Folick earlier this year on tour with Aly & AJ, ahead of the release of her sophomore LP ROACH (check out our coverage of that show here). This time around, Folick brought along a full band that perfectly accentuated the energy and emotional heft of her songs. Folick opened her set with a hushed performance of an unfamiliar song, before launching into ROACH tracks “Nothing to See” and “Bad Thing”. Compared to her studio recordings, Folick put a dynamic spin on every song she performed. For “Cockroach”, Folick delivered a throaty yowl during the song’s climax that hit completely different than the album version. “Tetherball” was performed as an acoustic version rather than the electronic treatment it received on the album.
Things took a more lighthearted turn during the middle portion of their set. Folick performed a playful vocals- and bass-only rendition of “Stop Talking” (from her debut LP Premonitions), a special audience request from the last time they were in town. They also performed a number of new/unreleased songs – “Gumby” is a bouncy upbeat track with an infectious earworm of a chorus that’s about dancing wild. In the same vein, “What We Wanna” (co-written with Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint) is a fun-loving anthem in the style of “Hey Mickey”.
After performing ROACH lead single “Get Out of My House”, they ended their set with “Shortstop” (the album’s closing track); however, they had to restart the song when Folick realized she was singing in the wrong time signature. What followed was a magnificent nearly 10-minute version, featuring everything from arpeggiated keys to an epic trumpet part. Folick’s expressive vocals gave me chills during the song’s powerful outro. For their encore, Folick performed a stripped down version of Joni Mitchell’s “River”. At the request of the audience, they ended the night with a moving rendition of breakout Premonitions track “Thingamajig“.
Miya Folick will be finishing out her North American tour with a performance at Austin City Limits on 10/14. “What We Wanna” will be featured on the upcoming Apple TV+ series The Buccaneers, premiering on November 8th along with the accompanying soundtrack featuring songs by Gracie Abrams, Sharon Van Etten, and more – watch the show trailer here. Check out the music video for ROACH closing track “Shortstop” below and keep scrolling to see more photos from the show.
