Breaking down Lucy Dacus’ stellar two night stand at Union Transfer
Last week, indie singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus played two nights for capacity crowds at Union Transfer, the first of which sold out well ahead of the release of her third full-length record, Home Video. To her fans, hearing Dacus play a setlist comprised of unheard material was hardly a gamble. And in the months they waited to see the show, her audience devoured every last line of the new record, so when the time came, they were able to dutifully and enchantingly sing along.
Home Video is Lucy Dacus’ autobiographical masterpiece. Each song sounds as if Dacus’s childhood journal was edited and sung aloud. She describes feelings and settings so distinctly, like stage directions for a quaint Arthur Miller play set in modern times. With images and lists of characteristics, Dacus shows you what transpired, instead of just telling you. Take “Please Stay,” for example: “The books on your shelf that you never read / The hunting knife you kept by your bed / The flowers you dried and tied up with twine / Suspended from the ceiling.” Seems as if Lucy Dacus drew inspiration her Boygenius bandmate and master of a similarly detail-oriented style, Phoebe Bridgers.
Dacus’ live set on both nights featured mostly tunes from Home Video and only one song, “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore,” from her debut record, No Burden. Every time they play that song live, Dacus and bass player Dominic Angellela dip their instruments and lunge at each other in a coordinated dance; it’s always a joy to see. Dacus introduced Angellela and the rest of her band on night one by saying, “They’re the best people I know,” and that they’ve all, at some point, lived in Philadelphia. “I guess that makes us a Philly band,” said Dacus to an erupting crowd.
Dacus had different openers for each night, and each both brought a unique energy to the room. Philly-via-Vegas artist Shamir got the show started on Wednesday night, playing his first show since the pandemic and debuting the current power-trio configuration of his band. Compared to the effervescent studio arrangements of the pop/rock anthems he’s released over the past year, the Shamir live exprience had a raw edge to it, with songs bopping but more often raging. This was particularly true of a new one towards the set’s end that Shamir told the crowd was written about police brutality. It swelled to an explosive crescendo that had the room wrapped up in its fury; though his music is often viewed as lively and fun, this showed that Shamir is just as skilled at filling his songs with non-sugarcoated anger. His big 2020 single “On My Own” closed out the set, and while it might have been a party anthem elsewhere in the night, here it felt like a mellow come-down while the room continued it process of self-reflection.
On Wednesday, Bartees Strange got the show under way, and his presence on the bill was a definite force pushing that night to the sell out zone — particularly in the wake of his breakout set at Pitchfork Fest this fall. The D.C. singer-songwriter and producer’s music is as eclectic and vibrant as his choice to wear a Bad Brains shirt with a Levon Helm hat; a sparse solo “Far” gave way into a pummeling “Mustang,” followed by a the groovy “Kelly Rowland” where Bartees put the guitar down to cup the mic, dance, and work the crowd. His set spanned house rhythms, Kings Of Leon-esque arena rock, punk urgency, new and unreleased cuts, and a National cover heard previously on his Say Goodbye To Pretty Boy EP.
For her part, headliner Dacus approached each night as a unique show — she’s clearly not an artist who has a stock setlist that repeats gig after gig. Some similarities shown through; the pre-set clip reel of nostalgic camcorder footage shot by her father, a near full-album performance of Home Video (the gutting and aforementioned “Please Stay” is the only song that didn’t make the cut on night two). But different moments landed in different places and different ways; epic album-closer “Triple Dog Dare” opened Wednesday night and was an encore on Thursday night, while the askew Frank Ocean-esque pop of “Partner In Time” was played in all its autotune glory on night one, then delivered solo acoustic with Dacus’ longtime collaborator Jacob Blizard on night two. The main set cover on night one was a lively re-imagining of Edith Piaf’s “La Vie En Rose” from Dacus’ 2019 EP; surely the folks screaming “BRUUUUUCE” on night one will be bummed to hear she played her rendition of “Dancing In The Dark” on night two. The singalong to “Going Going Gone” on night two featured Bartees and his bandmates taking the stage to join in. And night two got two extra Historian songs, “Timefighter” and “Nonbeliever.”
Speaking of Historian, Lucy Dacus’s live sets always end with “Night Shift,” that album’s earth-shattering anthem, and both nights were no exception. No one is tired of hearing that one. When it came time for an encore, Dacus again approached it differently each night. On Wednesday, with the full-band songs from the setlist exhausted, Dacus returned to the stage for a solo electric cover of Regina Spektor’s “Summer In the City,” and an unreleased new original set in Brooklyn on New Year’s Day. She made the crowd promise not to record the latter, for fear that it would be spoiled before its time. Night two featured a different unreleased song (this one set in San Francisco), and there wasn’t a phone in sight either night, meaning if all goes well, this new tune will stay relatively secret, just like “Thumbs,” the Home Video single she toured with for over a year before its release.
Check out photos and setlists from each night below.
[night one gallery]
Triple Dog Dare
First Time
Addictions
Hot & Heavy
Christine
VBS
Cartwheel
La vie en rose (Édith Piaf cover)
Yours & Mine
Please Stay
Partner in Crime
Brando
Thumbs
Going Going Gone
I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore
Night Shift
Encore:
Summer in the City (Regina Spektor cover)
Untitled New Song
[night two gallery]
First Time
Addictions
Hot & Heavy
Christine
VBS
Cartwheel
Nonbeliever
Yours & Mine
Dancing in the Dark (Bruce Springsteen cover)
Timefighter
Partner in Crime
Brando
Thumbs
Going Going Gone
I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore
Night Shift
Encore:
Triple Dog Dare
Untitled New Song