Atlanta-based Faye Webster was the latest artist to create pandemonium at Franklin Music Hall last Saturday night. A sold out show at the former Electric Factory typically means a line around the block, shoulder-to-shoulder contact, and the threat of a minor medical emergency, and this show was no different. Last time Webster played Philly, in August 2022, she was at Union Transfer with Maya Hawke. On the strength of her 2021 LP I Know I’m Funny haha and 2022 EP Car Therapy Sessions, plus multiple festival appearances and hard-hitting singles later, she’s successfully made the jump from niche indie artist to owner of her own melancholy, R&B-influenced sound and master ticket-seller.
Like the boygenius show at The Mann last month, Faye Webster’s show was attended largely by an enthusiastic and stylish crowd of college-aged and younger fans. The devotion was palpable as the crowd packed onto the GA floor; one could easily have forgotten that the Phillies were facing the Arizona Diamondbacks for the fifth game of the National League Championship Series (please forgive my sports reference). Fellow Atlanta band and Webster’s personal favorite Upchuck opened the show with perhaps more aggression than anyone was anticipating given the headliner’s laid-back persona. You gotta love a mixed bill though, especially when the surprise pay-off is this sweet. Revolution brews in Upchuck’s ear-splitting volume and singer KT Thompson’s stories of “a doomed generation.” Their performance was unhinged and raucous. Give this year’s Bite The Hand That Feeds a listen for a taste.
