Concert review/photos: Jessica Lea Mayfield @ Johnny Brenda’s
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
A premiere punk songstress emerges.
[ 4/29 ] Jessica Lea Mayfield may be soft spoken in between songs on stage, but when lyrics swim out of her lips and she picks at her guitar, a premiere punk songstress emerges. On Tuesday night she unleashed a barrage of hooks and riffs that captivated the Johnny Brenda’s audience. Bursting forth from her folk cocoon on her scorching 2014 album Make My Head Sing… with blasts of grunge and punk, Mayfield is certainly one of the most underrated American rock forces.
At the core of her show and album is “Oblivious.” Appearing a third of the way through her performance, it is a dirge of dirty guitar and bass (the latter from husband Jesse Newport) and brash drums (courtesy of Matt Martin). It elicits head-banging while also wafting into the clouds with a dreamlike vocal presence. Other, more pop-based rock excursions like “I Wanna Love You” with its “Don’t Fear the Reaper”-esque guitar and “Standing in the Sun” mixed perfectly with Johnny Brenda’s mix of blue and red lights. The refrain of “I Wanna Love You” — “I’m insane, I wanna love you” — nearly mirrored the crowd’s desires; nearly because there was no insanity. The desire was overflowing from the two-thirds full room from first chord to last.
Gambles opened with awkwardness and a hint of freak-folk.
More reviews and photos by Chris Sikich:
- Ani DiFranco @ World Cafe Live
- Escovedo @ World Cafe Live
- The Sounds @ Union Transfer
- The Stray Birds @ World Cafe Live
- Okkervil River/Typhoon @ Union Transfer
- Tinariwen @ Prince Music Theater
- Suzanne Vega @ Two Rivers Theater
- Drive-By Truckers @ World Cafe Live/The Queen
- Arcade Fire @ Wells Fargo Center
- Throwing Muses @ Bowery Ballroom (NYC)
- Paul Simon and Sting @ Wells Fargo Center
- Ex Hex @ the Ottobar (Baltimore)
