Girl at the Rock Shows

I was absolutely feeling my age as I entered the 7th Street Entry on Thursday night. The sold-out audience around me was young and full of life making me feel even older and more exhausted than I actually was. It was a weird feeling. It’s not that I’m not used to be one of the older ones in the crowd because, honestly, that happens a lot, but it was more that these kids were young and were stoked about what was about to happen on the modest stage and I had no clue what I had gotten myself into for the night. That’s right, it was another “going in blind” kind of show,

Genevieve Stokes too the stage just a little bit after 8 PM and instantly won me over. Her haunting and eerie vocals took over the entire room stopping any and all conversations going on throughout the excited audience. It was such a powerful start to what would continue to be an absolutely gorgeous set of music. I was honestly a bit lost for words as she played through her set. My notes from the set consist of words like “haunting”, “eerie”, “emotive”, “dazzling”, and so on but there were no details to my notes so, as I sit here trying to write this review, I have no real pinpointed moments to refrence but that’s the point. Genevieve’s music, sound and overall being is just so beautiful and so overpowering that it was impossible to tear my eyes away from the stage long enough to jot down notes.

There were moments throughout her set that reminded me of a personal favorite of mine, Kate Nash, while other moments that had a more mature vibe almost like a Regina Spektor with a Lorde pop tendency. I know those are some super big names to be comparing this young songstress to but her name absolutely deserves to be among those legends. The tone of her voice was just as beautiful as the raw words that were attached to the dazzling lines of notes. Everything she did on stage was done with intentiona and a sense of delicacy that just had me absokutely floored. Although she had a drummer and guitarist on stage with her, she had the spotlight and the audience in her control throughout the quick set. That’s not to say the two band members weren’t great– they were– and added the perfect amount of atmosphere needed to the set.

I had never heard of Genevieve Stokes prior to Thursday night and was a bit hesitant to agree to cover her set after a pitch from her PR rep but I am beyond glad that I took advantage of the opportunity. Genevieve’s name is one to watch and her sound is one that has to be heard. Give this up-and-coming gal some attention. She absolutely deserves it and you will not regret it!

Although Genevive was amazing, it was clear as the stage was changed over fot the headliner and the excitement throughout the room reached a climax that she wasn’t the reason for the sold-out Thursday night show. Don’t get me wrong, there were clearly people there that were stoked to see such a talent on stage as every track was followed by a roar of applause but that applause didn’t really compare to the roar of shrieks that came after every movement headliner Charlie Burg made while performing.

Charlie Burg’s music instantly struck me as different. It’s not that typical commercialized pop-stylized singer-songwriter sound that I thought I was going to get just based off of the audience (okay, I was absolutely judging and I am a wee bit sorry for that). Instead, I was given this ery chill yet very full-of-life R7B sound with a bit of an indie-pop influence. It was different and definitely caught me a bit off guard for all of the right reasons. I live in a world where I typically write off young musicians because, well, because I’m a snob but Charlie gave me hope for the future and the way the audience responded to every track in his set just exacerbated that feeling.

Being that I had walked into the show blind, I can’t tell you many details about Charlie’s set as far as what songs he performed or anything like that but I can tell you that each song hit in a different way while being clearly that of Charlie Burg. With three band members by his side, he powered through his set with the same sense of care and delicacy that Genevieve did but with a different sense of energy that I found completely addicting. Although defiitely young and full of life, there was something old-souled about Charlie and the music he was making which was just the icing on the cake for me.

Neither of the acts that performed on Thursday night were really my cup of tea but that didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying both of them. Sometimes I get discouraged about the future of music qwhen I hear what the kids are listening to these days but Thursday night gave me hope– so much hope.

Line Up:

Genevieve Stokes

Charlie Burg

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing

Average Age of the Crowd: 12– Kidding– I know this was a 18+ show but the crowd was super young

Crowd Surfers- 0

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 0 out of 10

Sausage-Fest Meter- 1 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Randomly Shirtless Men – 0

Passed Out Kids- 0

Idiots Taken Out By Security – 0

How Irritated I Was With The Audience – 3 out of 10

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Genevieve Stokes – 0

Charlie Burg – 0

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score- 7 out of 10

Show on Deck — DeVotchKa / Keep For Cheap

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