REVIEW: Laura Jane Grace w/ Weakened Friends | 4.28.23 @ The Blue Room [PHOTOS]

Laura Jane Grace
w/ Weakened Friends
The Blue Room at Third Man Records; Nashville, TN
April 28, 2023

Review by Philip Obenschain. Photos by Mary-Beth Blankenship.

Though not for lack of trying, it’s been six years since influential Florida punk outfit (and one of our favorite bands ever) Against Me! last played Nashville, and seven since the group’s last studio album, Shape Shift with Me. Though they never formally announced a breakup, the band have been on hiatus since the pandemic seemingly stunted their momentum, and members have moved on to other endeavors, leaving the timeline for their future in doubt. Frontwoman Laura Jane Grace, however, has remained active in the band’s absence, kicking off her solo career in tandem with Against Me! with 2018’s Bought to Rot (released under Laura Jane Grace and the Devouring Mothers) before making it a full-time focus over the last few years, with sophomore effort Stay Alive arriving in 2020, and EP At War with the Silverfish the following year. Teasing a new record in the works- though as yet without a date- Laura recently returned to Nashville for the third time in four years (after making her solo debut at The East Room in 2019, and supporting Dashboard Confessional at The Ryman in 2021), to headline The Blue Room Third Man Records for one of the most intimate, inspired, and electrifying performances we’ve ever seen her deliver (and we’ve seen some pretty special Against Me! shows over the last decade). Read on for our review and photos!

The Blue Room is a special place to see any show- with its intimate size, small stage, and excellent acoustics- but especially so when it’s an artist you’re used to seeing in larger, rowdier spaces. As a solo artist, Laura’s energy is certainly more mellow and indicative of her folk influences- especially on this tour, where she performed alone and acoustic- but the punk spirit of her songs and the urgency that comes with it still shines through. Before she took the stage, however, we were treated to an opening set from Maine indie rock trio Weakend Friends, a band I’d only seen one other time years ago at a similarly small show. Unlike Laura, the group played electric, and their hook-laden, punk-infused, and propulsive songs sounded stellar in the tiny space.

The room was brimming by the time Grace emerged, donning her typical all-black attire and rocking a guitar adorned with what appeared to be shiny stars. From note one I could tell this one going to be special, and she approached the show like an informal, unpretentious, almost DIY affair, and the crowd like a room of friends rather than fans, cracking more jokes than I’ve ever heard her tell, chatting with the audience, and performing with the polish of a road-worn pro but the informality of a living room jam sesh. Given their two decades of iconic releases, I assumed Against Me! material would make up a sizable potation of the set, and I wasn’t disappointed, as Laura tackled everything from deep cuts to fan favorites to the best of her recent solo work, all the while looking immeasurably happy and newly inspired to be performing in this type of setting.

After a couple of solo songs, the first of many impassioned scream/singalongs of the night in Against Me! fave “Unconditional Love,” and a great and delightfully mellow unreleased new song (which I believe is called “Tacos & Toast”), the first big surprise of the set was “Anna Its a Stool Pigeon,” a genuine deep cut from 2008 EP Heart Burns, technically Laura’s first-ever solo effort, released at the height of Against Me!’s mainstream breakthrough and under her dead name, several years before she came out as transgender. The fact that so many people were extremely thrilled to hear it told me that this was a crowd of real, longtime fans, and that energy only served to fuel what might be one of the best performances of Laura’s career. She seemed to recognize early on, too, that this night was something special, and admitted that while artists often claim that every show or crowd is the “best,” that she definitely didn’t always feel that way, and truly felt- as did everyone in attendance- like this she was especially on this evening (even joking that that probably meant her next night would be a disappointment).

Taking requests, complimenting the audience, cracking jokes about everything from divorce to her own unemployability outside of punk rock, Laura remained extremely genial and enthusiastic throughout, a demeanor which made for an interesting juxtaposition with the earnest and often dark subject matter of many of her songs. Based on their reaction to the Against Me! stuff, it was clear that the crowd all found her through her band, but remained just as engaged and respectful through the solo stuff, which, acoustic and deconstructed like this, all sounded of a piece. From the anthemic and propulsive “White Crosses” to solo standout “I Hate Chicago” to AM! classics like “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong” and “Reinventing Axl Rose” to other great solo cuts like “The Swimming Pool Song” to more surprising rarities like 20-year-old tune “The Disco Before the Breakdown” (one of the few Against Me! songs I’ve never seen her play before) to bangers like “Black Me Out” and “True Trans Soul Rebel,” I couldn’t have asked for a better rounded setlist, and seeing so many familiar songs stripped down to their core made me appreciate Laura’s power as a songwriter even more.

Among a couple of other new songs showcased, the one that most stood out was called “Dysphoria Hoodie,” which Laura explained was about, as it sounds, a certain comforting and shape-obscuring hoodie (in her case, a black one from Adidas) she reaches for when feeling dysphoric, which she proceeded to put on and perform in (joking about incorporating visual aids into the show). I imagine that’ll be a single from her upcoming record, as it felt instantly like one of Laura’s more memorable recent tunes, with catchy hooks and deeply personal lyrics that called back to her Transgender Dysphoria Blues era as a writer.

By the time the set came to a close, after an encore of Against Me! tunes “Two Coffins” and “Baby, I’m an Anarchist,” it seemed even more clear to both Laura and the audience that, as we’d sensed all night, this performance was something extra special, as the singer expressed a sincere and heartfelt gratitude, and the small and enthusiastic crowd went absolutely wild over what had just transpired. I’ve even Laura a couple times solo and with Against Me! at least a dozen, and after all these years, it’s amazing that she can still make magic, surprise me, and breathe new life into her songs in this way. But it shouldn’t be a surprise, as Laura Jane Grace is one of the most gifted rock artists of our generation, and when she’s at her best- with her band or alone- she’s transcendent.

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All photos by Mary-Beth Blankenship

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Setlist:

Electro-Static Sweep
Manic Depression
Unconditional Love
Tacos and Toast
Anna Is a Stool Pigeon
White Crosses
Cavalier Eternal
I Hate Chicago
Dysphoria Hoodie
Pints of Guinness Make You Strong
Reinventing Axl Rose
The Swimming Pool Song
Give Up the Ghost
The Disco Before the Breakdown
Black Me Out
True Trans Soul Rebel

Two Coffins
Baby, I’m an Anarchist!