Words and Photos by Jackie Grimson
Earlier this April, The Ophelias played an intimate show in Brooklyn, New York at The Broadway. Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter h. pruz opened the show with their captivating tunes. During their set, they took a moment to promote their zine called GUNK, which is a publication that highlights NYC shows. The most recent issue includes an interview with The Ophelias. Another Brooklyn-based act, Sabrina Song, was up next. Her electric guitar-driven tunes set the scene and prepared the audience for what was to come.
After Sabrina concluded her set, it was finally time for the Ophelias. They walked on stage to an excited audience following the openers’ energy. The indie band played many new songs from their fourth album, Spring Grove, which was produced by Julien Baker and Calvin Lauber. The album’s beautiful, dream-like production and unique lyrics are both intimate and polished. Lead singer Spencer mentioned that the subject matter of the lyrics on the album aren’t about romantic love; rather, they discuss the loss of friends, medical trauma, power dynamics, and more. These distinctive lyrics translated into a deeply personal but engaging performance by the band, including Spencer, who danced and jumped around the stage. During songs such as “Vulture Tree” and “Salome,” Spencer took a more theatrical approach and acted out the lines. During “Salome,” which is a song about a biblical story, the band brought out a papier-mâché head of John the Baptist that one of the members made.
During the last song, Spencer started crying, expressing how happy the band was to finally have their album out. She stated that Spring Grove took two years to be released due to not being able to find a music distributor for a long time. At the conclusion of the show, the audience was so excited that the band returned to the stage and played an extended encore.
Loudspeaker Collective 