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Boygenius – Madison Square Garden – October 2, 2023

Boy (!), did these people love those people. These people were all of us — the assembled throng at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, anyway — deeply enthralled by what was occurring on the stage and the vibe filling up the whole place. Those people were boygenius — the inspired supergroup comprising Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers — headlining there for the first time and completely owning it.

Supergroups are usually good-natured stunts, or at least don’t feel set up for any kind of real longevity. Boygenius, on the other hand, are convincingly a band. The three principals share an affinity for the space where open-armed, melancholy, confessional folk-rock meets steely, fist-pumping resolve, and while their individual styles are different, boygenius are the through line among them where somehow all this deeply intimate, soul-bearing music translates to a huge stage, way bigger than its individual parts, losing none of its quietly (and sometimes un-quietly) devastating power.

They began the set a cappella, singing “Within You Without Them” from backstage in gorgeous three-part harmonies, like a next-generation Emmylou Harris/Alison Krauss/Gillian Welch. From there they took the main stage to rapturous applause in front of a sturdy four-piece band — drummer Madden Klass, bassist Tiana Ohara, keyboardist Sarah Goldstone and well-utilized multi-instrumentalist Melina Duerte — and sliced into “$20” and “Satanist,” both full-throated rockers, sometimes with screams, as if to remind us that despite sometimes-delicate music, this would not be a delicate show.

Throughout it, boygenius proved masters of balance. The three-part harmonies returned to great effect on tunes like “True Blue.” Each took multiple turns singing lead vocals, drawing briefly from their own catalogs — Baker’s “Favor,” Bridgers’ “Graceland Too,” Dacus’ “Please Stay” — but focusing largely on the already-formidable boygenius catalog — the tender, ethereal, pained “Emily I’m Sorry,” the heavy “Bite the Hand,” the stirring “Me and My Dog,” all highlights.

There were newer songs, too: The set closed with “Powers,” debuted a few nights earlier in Philadelphia and one of four tunes the band played late in the show from a B-stage, immersing in the audience — endlessly, that joyful, triumphant vibe. Joined by opener MUNA for the final encore, “Salt in the Wound,” boygenius left us feeling benedictory — take these good feelings and embrace them for how beautifully raw they really are. —Chad Berndtson | @Cberndtson

Last month, the Band Camino — deftly mixing rock and electronic-pop — put out their second long-player, The Dark, and last week, the Memphis trio launched a brand-new tour that brought them to a packed Manhattan Center’s Hammerstein Ballroom on Monday night

(The Band Camino plays Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, N.J., tonight.)

Tennessee singer-songwriter and guitarist Briston Maroney was in the East Village on Tuesday, enthusiastically bringing to life the roots-, folk- and rock-tinged tunes from his second LP, Ultrapure, at a sold-out Webster Hall, his first of two nights at the venue.

(Briston Maroney plays Webster Hall again tonight.)

Photos courtesy of Grayson Wise | @grayokay

With his highly anticipated sixth studio album, Rustin’ in the Rain, dropping next month, Tyler Childers launched a brand-new American tour on Wednesday at Radio City Music Hall, and the Appalachian singer-songwriter and his supremely talented band were back again at the plush venue on Thursday night.

(Tyler Childers plays Thompson’s Point in Portland, Maine, with Margo Price on Sunday.)

Wednesday was one of those summer night when it just feels good to be outside, and even better if you could also catch a free show in the great outdoors with Maitland, Fla., Americana six-piece the 502s at the Backyard at Hudson Yards.