MisterWives and Bishop Briggs kicked off this past weekend with a bang, bringing their co-headlining show “The Don't Look Down Tour” to Salt Shed.
After a support set from Raffaella, the stage was set for Bishop Briggs. Three risers with built-in screens sat across the stage, and Briggs appeared on top of the center block amid an introduction of strobing lights and videos projected on the screens. “I have goosebumps everywhere,” the singer told the packed house after opening the show with her single “Art of Survival.” The set continued with fan favorite “Wild Horses,” which Briggs ran around the stage while performing and “Cherry On Top,” which was just released this summer on the “When Everything Went Dark” EP.
Before playing the fourth song of the evening, Briggs took a break to chat with the audience and share the backstory for “My Shine,” which includes a crush she had once upon a time in Chicago. “I was playing a show in Chicago, and I was singing ‘River.’ I got so into the song that I chipped my tooth and there was blood everywhere. Anyway, I had this night out planned with him after, and I have my front tooth completely halved. I was like ‘let’s do this! I love a challenge’ and we actually did make out that night. That was fun, but something that ended up happening with him was that on show day, he was so lovely and pulled out all the stops and then when we sort of entered into my not-shiny part of my life, he was really cold to me and would be really different. My point in telling you guys this story is that I think it’s so important to be with someone that loves all sides of you, the shiny, the not shiny, and really accepts you fully. Don’t worry, I replaced my Chicago crush. Never let anyone tell you that all facets of you are not good enough, cause that’s not true.”
Throughout the rest of her set, Bishop Briggs continued to connect with the room full of music fans both via her music and the chats she’d have between songs. Other highlights of her show included a cover of Hozier’s “Take Me To Church” and the aforementioned hit “River” that she talked about in her introduction to “My Shine.”
MisterWives closed out the entire evening, continuing to ramp up the positive vibes with their joyful and energetic performance. The band’s stage set up remained similar to Bishop Briggs’, and lead vocalist Mandy Lee began the show in same spot that Briggs had before quickly dancing her way across the front part of the stage. After opening with the introductory song of their new album Nosebleeds, “Out Of Your Mind,” Lee told the crowd they were in a safe space to dance it out, cry it out, and feel it out. “We want you to leave here feeling better than when you came here,” she said. In just a matter of moments, the energy shift in the room was palpable thanks to Lee’s infectious effervescence that radiated from the stage. With every twirl, kick, and dance move Lee made, it felt like she was emitting sprinkles of fairy dust and pure happiness throughout the room. One of my fellow photographers even said “I feel like I just had five shots of espresso” after we finished photographing the first few songs of the evening— that’s just how contagious the band’s spirit was.
Now, I’ve mentioned that Lee continued to dance, jump, kick, and twirl throughout the show, but even more impressive is that her vocal quality never faltered despite the physicality of her performance. Not only did Lee never run out of breath while she essentially did a high-impact workout onstage, she nailed every note and showcased an extensive vocal range.
A large part of the setlist that night featured songs from the Nosebleeds album, and Lee took some time to tell the audience about the experiences that led to some of the newer songs. “Rather than racing to the finish line and trying to find the answers and the silver lining, we leaned into the messy middle, and from that got comfortable in the uncomfortable. I’ve never felt more free in my life, so thank you so much for carrying this record close. In the spirit of that sentiment, this one is ‘Trip Around The Sun.’” During the performance of this song, the visuals onstage resembled a sunrise, continuing to complement the stories behind each song.
As the latter half of the show approached, Lee told the audience “I somehow have chills but I’m sweating,” which is something I think a lot of us could relate to in that moment thanks to her goosebump-inducing vocals. The chills continued when the crowd swayed their arms back and forth in unison during the performance of “Superbloom,” which is the title track of MisterWives’ 2020 album. The hits kept coming when the band performed their mega-popular song “Our Own House” next. For the live performance of the 2015 song, the band played a refreshed arrangement that featured an extended introduction. The night eventually wrapped up with the title song from their new album, “Nosebleeds.”
If you missed out on the fun evening, check out photos below and see where you can catch the tour next here.
