Songs from “Real Warmth” create an intimate atmosphere at Joan Shelley’s Free at Noon

Coming off her sold out show the previous night at Harmonie Hall in East Falls, Joan Shelley and her band took to the World Cafe Live Stage. In her quiet and velvety tone, she shared her appreciation to play some of the songs off her latest record, Real Warmth, for the Free at Noon crowd.

Shelley’s set included “Everybody”, the song’s sweeping and metronomic tempo inspired the crowd to sway lightly from side to side. Her rippling vocals added a vulnerability to this song about growing older in her poetic lyrical style. 

Later, Shelley and her band played “Wooden Boat”, a song that Shelley described to the Free at Noon crowd as a story about the Bear Islands off the coast of Norway. Acoustically it felt like being on a boat that rises and falls with each wave. Shelley leans into folklore lyrically,  “Sunken bear with sandy hair, Find the belly, anchor there, Pouring honey on her burns, Hide among the softest ferns, A den to sleep till season turns.”

The four musicians had oriented themselves on the stage in a half circle, facing inwards. It gave the crowd a sense of closeness to Shelley and those around them. The band shared smiles and glances like a secret conversation or language all to their own. All in all, Joan Shelley’s set at this Free at Noon was a calming and mellowing start to the weekend.