Hayley Williams combines vulnerability and bravery on ‘PETALS FOR ARMOR I,’ the first part of a larger project

Hayley Williams has always been a force to be reckoned within the music world. You can’t just be the leading force of a band, of a pillar of the mid-00’s emo boom, like Paramore, go back to the drawing board not just once but twice, and not come out feeling like you’ve always been holding on to some kind of special power. Yet for all the praise and invincible status we’ve attached to Hayley Williams the musician, it has become rather easy to sidestep the sensitive territory of Hayley Williams as a person, as well as everything that involves spending time in order to better understand her as this everyday, normal, not-at-all-invincible human being.

PHOTOS + REVIEW: Slothrust, joined by MANNEQUIN PUSSY, bring fantastic vibes to The Sinclair (11/10/18)

Allow me to start off-subject if you will. One of my favorite performances of Arctic Monkeys’ “Mardy Bum” that I can never rewatch enough times is the rendition they played at 2006’s Reading Festival. Only a couple of notes in, it is easy to see why. Although perhaps nervous, the band looks quite happy to be there, and the crowd even more so, judging by the fact that they sing along to pretty much every part of the song, and they do so with ardent splendor. And as I stood amongst the crowd for Slothrust’s Saturday night set at The Sinclair, hearing the band play “Like a Child Hiding Behind Your Tombstone” from 2016’s Everyone Else, smiles and all from frontwoman Leah Wellbaum in-between the song’s major moments, the crowd responding with unbridled joy, I find it hard not to find parallels between these two beautiful performances, for this beauty was part of a night of live music that was as every bit welcoming as it was bustling.

CONCERT REVIEW: The Joy Formidable calm nerves and have a good time at The Sinclair (11/6/18)

During opening band Tancred’s set, there was a moment in-between songs that, without wanting to get too political, summarized the general mood of both the audience and the show. Tancred remarked that the crowd seemed “inattentive,” and asked if it was either because it was a Tuesday, or because everyone had voted. The audience gave no definite response, but front woman Jess Abbott, and the band as a whole really, took it all in good spirit. Whatever the crowd’s disposition happened to be was not something the band was going to let dampen their set. Election results be damned, Tancred were there to kick off a night of good music, and that was exactly what they did in the time they were onstage. Their setlist comprised mostly of songs from their latest album, Nightstand, and their blend of power pop, indie rock tuneage served as the perfect compliment to The Joy Formidable. I had the privilege of seeing Tancred open for Julien Baker when she came to Providence earlier this year, and and just like the warm reception they received for that gig, there was enthusiasm abound for the four-piece.

CONCERT REVIEW: Deafheaven made a welcome return to Fête Music Hall (11/2/18)

Although I had the chance to see Deafheaven take command of Boston’s Royale earlier in July, I went into Friday night’s double-header concert of Deafheaven and DIIV with what I could only describe as a surge of uncontained excitement. After all, Fete Music Hall was where I first got to see Deafheaven unleash beautifully contained havoc upon the audience. There was George Clarke’s trademark screams and snarls; there was a heck of a lot of moshing and crowd surfing; and there was one of my favorite bands in top form, touring behind and riding on the waves of success of my favorite album from that cycle. It was a blissful experience, and it was as every bit as blissful at this most recent outing.

REVIEW: Deafheaven aren’t showing any signs of slowing down on ‘Ordinary Corrupt Human Love’

When a band like Deafheaven produces and releases an album like Sunbather, they become a group you simply must pay attention to. And when such a band releases as worthy a follow up as New Bermuda, it becomes rather difficult to not anticipate further releases from them with giddy excitement. For while their game-changing first album had them explore and expand every nook and cranny of the blackgaze subgenre they became associated with, the succeeding release had them inject healthy amounts of speed and thrash metal, ultimately producing a black-as-molasses release that was as exhilarating as it was brooding. Both were great releases that showed how the band refused to stay within the confines of any genre. They also demonstrated the group’s natural aptitude for experimentation. And if this latest record is any indication, the group has only gotten better at furthering their sound.

REVIEW: Theresa Wayman’s solo debut, ‘LoveLaws,’ explores love’s powerful nature

Love can be quite the concept. Probably everybody would like to be swept up and held in its warm embrace as you soak in all the euphoria coming from that cradle. But nothing prepares you for when love decides let you go. There will always be the pain that comes with such an outcome, and feeling like you’re in a world of hurt. Maybe you want to give up on love, because you’re so sure you’ll never experience that level of goodness again.

Theresa Wayman, one of the front-women of the L.A.-based art rock outfit Warpaint, definitely feels your pain and understands where you’re coming from; love truly can be swampy, unfavorable territory. Buuut… it also isn’t. And to get to such a conclusion, sometimes you have to look (like, really look) at what love is, and what it can be. Which just so happens to the approach Wayman takes in forming the ten songs that make up LoveLaws, her first album as a solo artist, under the moniker of TT.