by Katherine Hicks-Murray
Royale Boston is housed in an historic building in the heart of the Theatre District, and was previously another famous nightclub and concert venue; The Roxy. The early twentieth century architecture lends a very intimate vibe to an otherwise open floor plan, with open alcoves along the either side of the large room, combined with the coffered ceiling providing great acoustics.
Molly has multiple opening acts along with her on this tour. We were gifted to see Cecilia Castleman that night in Boston. I had not personally heard her until then, but boy was I struck dumb with the first notes. She has a very intricate and clean fingerpicking style that gives hint to a Chet Atkins influence. Her vocals are soft, yet powerful and very emotive. And her songwriting is gripping and soulful. Of her six song set, I enjoyed everything she played, including her cover of Tom Petty’s ‘Breakdown’. The song that really stuck with me was Pick and Lose. I really encourage you to check her out! Cecilia Castleman
Molly came out with a BANG! She opened the show with ‘Everything Burns’, the first track off her new album ‘So Long Little Miss Sunshine’. If you have not heard this track, you must. It is a moral imperative. Her guitar playing is on fire on this song. She followed that with ‘The Highway Knows’, the second release from her new album, and another one of my favorites. My photo pass allowed me to shoot the first three songs, from the pit. As a photographer and a music fan, I’m not going to lie – I was in heaven. I got some of the best photos I’ve ever gotten at a show and I can’t wait to show them to you all.
Molly’s set was a great mix of songs from the new album, including the first release ‘That’s Gonna Leave a Mark’, ‘Old Me New Wig’ and ‘Rosalee’, and other favorites as well like ‘Over the Line’, ‘Dooley’s Farm’, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’, ‘San Joaquin’ and ‘Crooked Tree’. About halfway through the show, she said she would take a request from the audience. There were many shouts of about a dozen different songs, but one stood out to her as the first and most fervent from the crowd: ‘El Dorado’, which she played solo, completely blowing us all away.
She told us about being part of recording Ringo Starr’s country album, and then they performed ‘Octopus’s Garden’. They finished out the show with ‘Take the Journey’, then came back out to roaring applause for a two song encore, ‘More Like a River’ and a last song off the new album, her remake of the 2013 Icona Pop song, ‘I Love It’, which brought another roar from the crowd. The show was absolutely electric from start to finish.
I haven’t seen such an incredible wealth of musical talent on one stage in quite some time. Molly’s new supporting band members are Ellen Angelico on all things strings [lead guitar, dobro, pedal steel], Mary Meyer on mandolin, Vanessa McGowan on bass and upright bass, and Megan Jane on drums and percussion. Her new group is insanely talented and just as fun and energetic, and I am very excited to see what the future brings! I have heard some bluegrass purists say that they have reservations about the new direction of Molly’s album. To them, I say, p’shaw. You will never be able to take the ‘grass out of Molly’s soul or her playing.
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