Bridge City Sinners + Troll 2 at The Sinclair, Boston, MA

Live review by Jamie Canavan

It was a night for female fronted folk punk in Boston, MA, USA this past Sunday on the eve of the Memorial Day bank holiday.

The gig opened up with Troll 2, a Boston local band, made up of Zoe Rose de Paz, René Perez, Brian Fitzgerald, Chris O’Grady, and RJ Barnett, who describes themselves as a “Bluegrass soul punk.” This blended heading is fitting for Troll 2, who like most punk bands, range musically in and out of genres. As an audience member, I was taken with lead singer and fiddle player, Zoe Rose de Paz. My notes-app note aptly states, “Girl tearing fiddle UP.” Her vocals blended and ranged wildly from their folky finale song ‘We all take drugs to their more dynamic new song ‘The Lighthouse’. Their new self-titled EP was sold on this night as well, it was announced that only 69 copies were in existence but you can check them out on streaming services.

The headline act was Bridge City Sinners, out of Portland, Oregon, USA. When I was debating if I had the energy to get into the city for this event, I was swayed by their website’s designation of their style as “Rowdy neo-folk” that ranges from “prohibition era jazz to Appalachian death folk.” I am obsessed with the intricate ways that bands, especially punk bands, try to generalise their genres and styles with words. The subheadings on West Coast Punx posters each week were a favourite staple of mine while living in Ireland.

Bridge City Sinners is fronted by the ever-entertaining and energetic Libby Lux. Libby had amazing crowd interaction and I greatly enjoyed their range of songs which had me interested in their soulful lyrics one moment and then feeling as if I was watching a scene in a musical and wanting to know what happened in the next. Explaining to the crowd that “This song is about a rat infestation in Michael’s house!” is the IDEAL way to keep my ADHD self focused on your act.

The crowd at the Sinclair radiated good vibes. I ran into a trio, Alicia, Aja, and Dan, who had seen Bridge City Sinners open for Twin Temples this past October and instantly became big fans. It is always great to organically stumble upon an act that makes you an instant fan and getting to see a band’s development. Another adorable fan encounter that I witnessed was father and son, Warren and William, who enjoyed the gig and the fact that there was no school the next day for the holiday!

Let’s hope this is a sign of a summer for the womxn punx in the Boston heat!