It is by no means an uncommon phenomenon to go to a concert only for the opener. In five years of post-COVID-19 shutdown time, I have averaged between 30 to 40 concerts a year. Only twice have I gone to a concert for the first band of the night. Thursday night at King of Clubs, seeing She’s Green was No. 3.
This is no insult to the headlining band Turnover or the second group Narrow Head. While I am not familiar with their game, the bits I sampled were good and the King of Clubs crowd looked ready for what looked like a nearly sold out show (if you count the full patio of people who skipped the first set).
For total transparency, I did not even know that Turnover was headlining the concert. This is not the time to go into the world of an ADHD mind but I will share a secret with you — as long as you aren’t hurting other people, you can do practically whatever you want. That bit of unsolicited advice might prompt a “duh” to some but that is more groundbreaking to some folks than you would think. In this case, the headlining bands will not care if you leave before they play. You are already in the door and it is impossible for them to even know you left unless they were watching you. I am partly saying this to reassure myself.
There were a few reasons why I politely left the show early. First, and not foremost, it was hot. After some initial hesitancy towards the overall vibe of King of Clubs, I have grown to appreciate the venue. The security guards have always been nice and they even drive around the free parking lot to make sure no one tries to break into cars. Really swell folks. With that said, once the seasons turn, it is too hot in there. Fans complain about it and even the bands do sometimes.
That is a bit of a cop out, which is why it was not the foremost reason for a quick departure. I really wanted to see She’s Green. If they are new to you, She’s Green is a five-piece band that I want to call dream pop, but they also have a touch of shoegaze that sometimes hits you as surprisingly heavy. On my first listen of the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based band, which was only a few weeks ago, my brain first went to Beach House.
I first listened to Beach House between their second and third albums. The Baltimore, Maryland duo were one of the first alternative bands that broke through my wannabe punk rock demeanor. It put me into a trance that I have not broken out of in close to 20 years. To put it into perspective, I bought “Teen Dream” on CD in 2010. I am old as dirt. In those 20 years, I attempted to find bands in the same realm and it is not easy.
She’s Green is one of the few that broke through for me.
In music journalism, there is weight in comparing bands to other bands. It is not something I gravitate towards. Sometimes it feels lazy, but I also understand that comparison is a gateway to get someone to try a new band out for the first time. The reason I do not like it is because some will discard a band comparison if they are not carbon copies of each other. Comparison is also the thief of joy, or so I have heard.
Front and center — She’s Green is not Beach House. She’s Green contains elements of them, but they also have a strong personality all their own.
Photo by Thomas Costello
Thursday night, She’s Green played six songs, spread across their four years of existence. Starting things off was “close your eyes,” which for nearly six minutes is that ethereal style of dream pop that picks you up and carries you away, and you don’t care at all where it takes you. Midway through the track, lead singer Zofia Smith, who is a key reason why She’s Green’s songs enter your brain and take over, repeats “I hold you close at night,” starts low and hits a high note at “close” each and every time.
The lead singer gets a lot of attention, but the rest of the band creates music that takes up space, in a good way. The final couple minutes of the opener is that wall of sound that takes the ethereal to nearly splitting dimensions. It ratchets up the while keeping the integrity of the dream pop journey.
Their songs are not always like that. She’s Green played backlit, a staple of Beach House’s live sets too, but it is not to hide away. The second song of the night “Graze,” off their 2023 “wisteria” EP, picked up where the first track left off.
My favorite song of the short opening set was “mettle,” from the upcoming July 10 release of their first LP “swallowtail” on Photo Finish Records. It was the shortest song of the set, with the recorded version at a hair under three minutes long. “Mettle” is the hardest track of the night for She’s Green and it features the most intense singing for Smith. Where most other songs in their library start instrumentally with flashes of Smith’s voice, this new song starts with Smith and limited backing guitar over the first two lines “it’s not over yet; it’s not over now,” relatively quickly. Then guitar comes in strong and the song picks up the pace.
Each song of the night is that whisk you away style of alternative rock but it also never lets up. Smith’s soft vocals and the energy of the songs’ music meshed well. She’s Green has something for everyone, in the sphere of alt rock. Plus, an added bonus for folks who do not like a lot of chit chat between songs, She’s Green’s music seemed to keep rolling without much of a pause. Outside of the required “who’s excited for *insert bands after you here*” while the band tuned, which feels almost contractually obligated, they did not waste their short time on stage.
After picking up a couple CDs for my kids, because physical media is back with a vengeance and I do not need anymore concert shirts without some purging, I said goodnight to the nice security folks still letting people in, got into my car, cranked up the air conditioning, and listened to She’s Green the entire way home.
