This past Saturday afternoon, I made my way to Sleeping Village for the first time in more than a year and half to catch not one, but two recent ANCHR Artist of the Week alumni: Mia Joy and Squirrel Flower.

The show was the earlier of two hosted by the venue that day, in honor of Squirrel Flower’s sophomore record entitled Planet (i), released only the day prior. Although the performance was originally set to take place on Sleeping Village’s patio, thunderstorms and even threats of tornadoes pushed the gig inside, where eager music fans took their seats in the venue’s main room, many of who were experiencing a highly-anticipated return to live music. When Mia Joy took the stage, she relished in that same sense of excitement, joking that it was incredible to see an audience in person, rather than looking at a screen with a bunch of different colored hearts popping up (if you’ve watched an Instagram Live stream during the pandemic, you know that sight all too well).

Like Squirrel Flower, Mia Joy also released a record this year, so her set primarily featured songs from the debut album entitled Spirit Tamer. Backed by a live lineup of other Chicago musicians, Mia Joy performed tracks like “Ha Ha,” “Heaven Forbid,” and “Saturn”— the latter of which received a special arrangement thanks to the live band input. Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist V.V. Lightbody even contributed her flute-playing to the set, providing yet another special touch to the evening.

Ella Williams (aka Squirrel Flower) and her band took the stage next, delivering the first ever live performance of Planet (i) to an appreciative audience. Several of the songs on the record reference storms and tornadoes in particular— the irony of which was not lost on Williams as she bantered about the awful Chicago weather that day either being a curse or a celebration of the album’s recurring nod to disaster. As Williams played through the album front-to-back, vocalist Jess Shoman of the band Tenci joined the band onstage to lend some harmonies to “Deluge In The South.” When it came time for Williams to sing “Pass,” she made it about halfway through the song when she abruptly stopped to let the crowd know that Shoman was also supposed to sing on that, so we were lucky enough to hear a couple of takes of the track. Eventually, the set began to wind down and Williams delivered a solo performance of “To Be Forgotten” and “Desert Wildflowers” before her band rejoined her on the stage.

Check out photos from the performance below, and be sure to keep up with Mia Joy and Squirrel Flower for their latest tour and music news.