By: Elizabeth Wiltshire

On a warm Saturday night in Boston, the opportunities for evening events are endless. But that night, The Sinclair in Cambridge was the place to be. Lydia was playing a headlining set with support from Funeral Advantage and Cherry Pools. The venue slowly but steadily filled up, and by 8:30, the night was already underway.

Kicking off the night was Boston-based indie-rock, Funeral Advantage. They’re a bit of a legend in Boston, so getting to see them for the first time was a treat. Low-fi, surf-rock sounds combined with upbeat guitar riffs and mellow vocals had the crowd nodding along and got the show off to a great start. Their sound is similar to that of RHEYA and Surf Rock Is Dead, so they started the night off in a more chill, low-key fashion. Nevertheless, they were high-energy, fun, and certainly gained a few new fans after that set.

Next up was Cherry Pools. To say that they made an entrance is certainly an understatement. Frontman Martin Broda entered the stage wearing a “Less Religion/More Sex” shirt, plaid pants with handcuffs hanging from them, bright blue hair, and a spiked choker. The other band members were all wearing some form of chokers/chains/leashes and it looked more like a wannabe pop-punk band than an indie-pop outfit. Regardless, Cherry Pools put on an energetic, captivating performance. Although not everyone was a fan of their music, they had to admit that the guys did put on a great show and were fun to watch.

Lydia’s production was less glitzy than that of Cherry Pools’s, but with just the banner of the album cover hanging in the back, it allowed everyone to focus on the music. The set opened with “Hospital” followed by “When It Gets Dark Out” and “Sunlight.” Everybody was singing along from the start, and went especially hard during “Sunlight.” (You can’t blame them, “You’re just my favorite motehrfucker I know” is a pretty fun lyric to sing.) The show continued with a lot of songs off of the recently-released album, Liquor, with songs from past albums making appearances. The show closed with my personal favorite, “This Is Twice Now.”

Overall, the show was high-energy all night with entertaining, diverse openers and an unsurprisingly strong performance by Lydia. Be sure to catch them in your city on the remainder of their tour! Tickets can be found HERE.