New York City-based record label Mom + Pop boasts a star-studded roster featuring Flume, Courtney Barnett and Ingrid Michaelson. The label brought together some of its own artists and other prominent indie groups to celebrate their 10th anniversary at Brooklyn Steel on Monday night.
Featuring a diverse showcase of musicians and genres, the bill included acts such as Sunflower Bean, Alice Merton, Neon Indian, Sleigh Bells and Tom Morello, as well as the night’s much-anticipated headliner, Courtney Barnett.
The venue transformed their outer bar area into a celebratory waiting room, accommodating a photo booth and ornamental Mom + Pop themed decorations covering most surfaces. The crowd was a healthy mix of middle-aged professionals wearing VIP passes around their necks and fans buzzing in excitement for Courtney Barnett’s performance.
With the show starting promptly at seven, Sunflower Bean took to the stage as the first performance of the night. The New York City-based indie rock trio brought their usual grace and energy, with frontwoman Julia Cumming delivering flawlessly on vocals and bass. The group played reimagined versions of “Twenty Two, Crisis Fest and I Was A Fool,” all tracks off of their recent album “Twentytwo In Blue”.
Although Bean’s 15 minute long three-song set packed a punch, it left the audience wanting more. The group is a bigger name signed to the label and has received critical acclaim for their new record released in the spring of 2018, even garnering a five-star review from NME. It’s only natural that the audience yearned for a longer on-stage presence from Bean.
Alice Merton and Neon Indian both played solid, expedited sets as the night went on, and noise-pop outfit Sleigh Bells, formerly signed to Mom + Pop, took to the stage following them. The loud buzz they emitted and amazing physicality of the show, with frontwoman Alexis Krauss jumping across the stage, balanced out the softer acts of the night. They proceeded to play their last song with Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine.
Courtney Barnett finally took to stage at around 10:30 p.m., donning a white t-shirt, jeans and a red Fender Jaguar strung across her chest and jumped right into her rock-tinged folk-pop. She played an impressive eight song set, performing hits such as City Looks Pretty and Avant Gardener. Barnett closed out the night with “Pedestrian at Best,” as hundreds of red, white, and blue balloons rained down on the crowd of animated fans singing along to every word, bidding adieu to a night of fun music, Mom + Pop anniversary style.
Email Penina Warren at [email protected].
