Brandi

I’ve been going to concerts since 1985 - My first was Heart and Cheap Trick at Merriweather Post Pavilion. It was everything I had imagined it would be. Loud, full and lots of fun. I don’t remember the last time I was at Merriweather, but it was time to go back.

Last night, my daughter Abby and I experienced one of the greatest, most emotional concerts I’ve ever been to in my life. Allison Russell, Indigo Girls and Brandi Carlile put on a show to remember.

Opening to a warm, welcoming crowd was Allison Russell, a Canadian singer-songwriter, whose first solo album, Outside Child, released in 2021 made it into my top ten of the year. It was a brief, yet powerful performance by Russell, backed by a fantastic group of musicians including Sistastrings (Milwaukee bred sisters, Monique and Chauntee Ross - we’ll touch on them later). Russell combines the best of folk and her love of jazz to create a beautiful sound. The highlight for me was hearing “Persephone” live - an homage that Russeel wrote about her first love – “she helped me through my early days of being a teenage runaway and taught me that people can be kind.”

After a brief break, out stepped the historic Indigo Girls. The crowd rose to their feet in applause and excitement. Kicking right into one of our favorites “Galileo” the duo (with a sparse backing band including the incredible Lucy Wainwright Roche) sounded fantastic. Digging into their huge catalog, the Girls “got out the map” and did some “shit kickin’” during the seven song set. Closing it out were two great sing-alongs, “Shame on You” and the iconic “Closer to Fine”.

All this time, I would glance over at Abby and was so thrilled to see a face full of wonder, excitement and joy. But the best was yet to come.

The roar of the crowd as the lights went down gave me chills - Out came twin brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth who have been performing with Carlile for over 20 years. Their guitar duet got the crowd going and out stepped the rest of the ridiculously talented band, followed by our headliner, Brandi Carlile.

Opening with the track “Broken Horses” from her latest In These Silent Days, it was clear from the start that we were in for a real treat. Carlile’s voice soared through the pavilion, out through the lawn and into the woods surrounding the venue. The emotion in her voice conveyed, as she’s put it, the connection of dots that she had never connected.

Later on came the Joni Mitchell sounding “You and Me on the Rock”. Carlile told a story about Vacation Bible Camp and how at the end of the camp, there was a drawing of a house on a rock. That imagery stuck with her and as she looked at her wife and kids, she wrote the song. It was as if we were in Laurel Canyon listening to the song.

Then came “The Story” - This was the first time I teared up. Despite not writing it herself (twin Phil Hanseroth wrote it), Carlile has made it her own. Look, we’ve all been through things in our lives - good, bad and ugly. We all have a story. The opening lyrics she sang just hit me, “All of these lines across my face. Tell you the story of who I am. So many stories of where I’ve been. And how I got to where I am.” What stories have we written? What stories are left to be told?

The backing band - Oh the band! Along with the twin and the legendary drummer Matt Chamberlain (who has worked with artists as wide as Tori Amos, Bruce Springsteen and Kanye West) it was Sistastrings who blew my mind with their musicianship and gorgeous harmonizing throughout. Bravo to Carlile and her entire crew for making sure the sound was right for each artist when they had a solo or important part in a song.

Other highlights in the middle of her set included two covers, David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and Radiohead’s “Creep”.

The majority of her set was taken from her latest release, In These Silent Days including the gorgeous “Right on Time”. Sitting at the piano, Carlile channeled her best Freddie Mercury from Live Aid (where he warms up the piano before launching into “Bohemian Rhapsody”) before her perfect voice came in with that first line: “Come back now…”. This was right around the second time tears rolled down my cheeks.

Side note about all of this: Music has always meant so much to me. It’s been such an important connector for me with the artists themselves but more importantly with my family and friends. I’ve longed to pass on my love of music to my children. Standing in the pavilion, glancing over at my daughter and seeing the smile and the awe in her eyes was everything to me last night. At one point she turned to me and said, “this is one of my best nights ever”. Cry number three.

The encores were a wide range of songs, mostly covers. Starting with the brand new song “You’re Not Alone” with Allison Russell. Proceeds from “You’re Not Alone” will go to benefit the Looking Out Foundation ‘s EveryTown For Gun Safety Support Fund and The Fight For Reproductive Justice Campaign. Her cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” was so different from CSN’s version, remaining true to Joni’s original version.

Carlile then talked about starting out and going to an Indigo Girls concert when she was in her teens, waiting until the very end of the night, hoping to wave to them on the tour bus. Spring forward to when she was opening for the Indigo Girls on one of their tours, helping guide her through the music world and everything involved. What better way to treat all of us than to bring them out.

Covering “Least Complicated” and “Go”, two favorites from the Girls, was breathtaking. The sing-along energy from the audience around “Hold Out Your Hand” left us exhausted but smiling. She started the closing with the simple request, “Stay Gentle” a peaceful track that everyone should take to heart. Pushing the time limit at MPP (they have a noise ordinance that shuts things down at 11:00 pm exactly) she quickly finished with “Over the Rainbow”.

The energy and sheer joy that Brandi Carlile showed us last night hooked us both. We were fans going in, but are now part of the Bramily.

The thunderous applause was warranted and the pride Carlile showed on her face was proof that here is someone who loves what she does, loves her fans and has an audience who loves and respects her craft, her lyrics, her songs and her life.

Thank you Brandi Carlile for making some of the best music memories we’ll ever have.