Sub Rosa @ The Beat kitchen

Some full disclosure here. I am friends with Sub Rosa frontwoman Jenny Boeder, and she bought me a drink at the show. Also, my brother played drums on their upcoming release. That said, I had never heard their music before seeing them live. The most notable thing about Sub Rosa is how pure Boeder’s voice sounds. She possesses a rich alto that doesn’t strike the notes, but rather evokes them as though they’re emitted from a pipe organ. The songs did sound different live than on the recordings (I’ve since checked them out) – more stripped down, but at the same time more personal. It’s a smaller venue, so I’m sure that added to the intimacy of the set. The mix wasn’t perfect and on some songs one of the guitars ended up overshadowing the vocals and other instruments, but that’s a minor quibble. My biggest complaint would be that they didn’t play long enough, with a set lasting just over half an hour. Maybe they wanted to keep ‘em wanting more (going out on top like George Costanza). Either way, it was a solid performance and I’m looking forward to their next show.