(Photo courtesy of: Alyx Rios) “Molly Grace performs in Boston.”
Tyler Browne
Connector Editor
Up-and-coming singer Molly Grace brought her Lovesick Tour to the Rockwood in Boston for a fun-filled evening of music on March 20. The Lovesick Tour is Molly Grace’s first, and she wowed the sold-out audience during her 16-song set.
Before Grace could take the stage, the audience was treated to a half-hour acoustic set from opener Eva Westphal. Westphal performed her set alone, singing and playing an acoustic guitar. Her set consisted of seven original songs and one cover, treating the crowd to a gender-bent cover of Taylor Swift’s “Call It What You Want”.
After a brief intermission, Grace’s three-piece band entered the stage, followed by the singer herself, who launched into her track, “Women’s Intuition”.
At just 22 years old, Grace has extremely impressive stage presence. While the Rockwood’s limited stage space gave her barely enough room to move around, she still managed to dance and interact with her audience.
A Boston native, the show marked Grace’s return home, and the club was packed with childhood friends, relatives and even some of her elementary school teachers. After the second song of the night, Grace surprised the crowd by announcing that the show was being recorded for a live album.
Grace’s vocals were stellar, with many of the songs having impressive vocal runs, including a six-note run during “Sweet September”. On top of the excellent vocals, Grace is aided by an extremely impressive band.
Guitarist Jacob Hoekwater supplied funky riffs to every song, and was especially impressive during a stripped-down segment of the show, where he was the only band member accompanying Grace.
Bassist Gert Arwood not only laid down a strong rhythm for each song, but he also contributed excellent backing vocals on songs like “All or Nothin’” and “Lover (Love Her)”.
Drummer Tierney Sage is a force to be reckoned with. During his drum solo, he repeatedly tricked the crowd into clapping out of time, leading to many laughs.
Grace treated her fans to two unreleased songs during the night. First up was “Little Bit of Hell”, a song about wishing the worst towards an ex after a breakup. Grace has performed the track throughout the tour.
Later in the evening, she treated the crowd to the premiere of “Red Line”, which she wrote about riding the Red Line in Boston.
Perhaps the best song of the night was “All or Nothin’”, a track which was originally released as a single in 2023. Grace describes her musical style as “pop funk goodness” and this track exemplified that. “All or Nothin’” is one of many songs in Grace’s discography that would not have sounded out of place in the 1970s.
Another highlight was “Lady Lady”. One of the first songs released after Grace came out as a queer woman, the lyrics praise her girlfriend while also calling out her ex-boyfriends by name. Midway through the track, Grace let each of her band members take an extended solo.
The final song of the main set, “Lover (Love Her)” is her most energetic. A celebration of her queerness, Grace danced around the stage while still providing excellent vocals.
The encore of “What If I? (The Grocery Store Song)” was another energetic song which let the audience go home happy and energized.
While Molly Grace’s career is just starting, Thursday night proved that she is far from finished.
Final Grade: A+
