Wednesday on a Thursday
By Pal
On April 23rd, I saw country-rock shoegaze band Wednesday at the Moore Theater. I put on my best pair of Carhartts and Doc Martens, matching everybody else in the crowd, and eagerly went to claim a seat as I anticipated the opener, Gouge Away. While their music was electric, the Moore is a seated venue, so despite having a microscopic pit right up against the stage, the rest of us were resigned to stand in front of our folded-up auditorium seats, knees knocking against the hard plastic backs of the chairs in front of us.
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I had never heard of Gouge Away before this show, so apart from some hasty Google searches the day before, I had essentially no idea what I was in for. Their sound was extremely consistent through the entire set, and each song flowed seamlessly into the next. Gouge Away’s heavy rock drums and distorted guitars screamed through the theater, and lead singer Christina Michelle alternated between singing and screaming, creating a striking vocal contrast. I especially liked their song “The Sharpening.” It seemed a bit like Michelle was accustomed to playing smaller venues, as she had some trouble keeping the microphone at a consistent distance from her mouth, which cut off some of her lyrics. Overall, though, I liked the set.
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In the middle of her set, Michelle paused hesitantly and announced that the band would be selling their merch from their tour van in the alley behind the Moore. Because of the hefty 20% merch cut required by the venue, Gouge Away felt forced to raise their merch prices. Michelle was transparent with the crowd: after manufacturing fees plus the merch cut, they would only be making about $7 in profit for every $35 shirt they sold. In comparison, I forked over the same price for a bottle of water from the Moore’s concession stand – $7 that I highly doubt ever made it back to the band. Michelle took care to clarify that the band had no problem whatsoever with the workers at the Moore, whom she said were all lovely to work with. After the show, the crowd flocked to the van post-set to buy the rogue merch.
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Following Gouge Away’s candor was Wednesday, and of course they were absolutely STELLAR. Instead of MJ Lenderman — who was on his own tour, playing in Seattle at the Paramount — the band enlisted a new guitarist, Jake “Spyder” Pugh, who, dare I say, was better than Lenderman himself. The band opened with “Reality TV Argument Bleeds.” Its powerful intro sequence slammed through the crowd, building tension throughout the whole song until its release in the last verse. The energy in the room was fairly dampened by the fact that we were stuck in seats, but it shifted my focus to the music and allowed me to lose myself in the set.
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Singer Karly Hartzman was also caught off-guard by the tame and restricted nature of a seated venue. She joked in between songs that she hadn’t been in a theater with a layout like the Moore since she was in her hometown’s production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Despite the limited range of movement for attendees, the concert was amazing. I’ve been a fan of Wednesday since they reissued their third studio album Twin Plagues in 2023 — it is my favorite album of theirs. Although the band didn’t play anything off of that body of work, it meant a lot to see them in person. Xandy Chelmis, who plays the slide guitar, adds a fascinating element to the music, something I’ve never really heard in any other alt-rock band. The lap steel, a type of guitar meant to be played lying across someone's lap, is a classic instrument in country and bluegrass music, but in the context of Wednesday, it almost added a second voice, a harmony to Hartzman’s melody.
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Michelle returned to the stage mid-set to sing “Phish Pepsi” as a duet with Hartzman. Towards the end of the set, after playing their hit “Elderberry Wine,” Hartzman prepared the audience for the last two songs. These songs were the hardest on her vocal cords, so she left them for the end of the show, and lucky for me, her screamiest songs are my favorite. She brought the house with “Bull Believer” and “Wasp,” ending the set with an explosion of energy and emotion.
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There was no encore, as Hartzman wanted a proper ending to the concert, and after “Wasp” and “Bull Believer,” her voice was shot for the night. I actually really liked that, as I hate the game of peek-a-boo that many bands do at the end of their shows, and it was nice to know exactly how much time was left in the show for me to be present in the performance instead of wondering when I was going to have to catch the bus home.
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Even if it’s in a seated venue, if you have the chance to see Wednesday in person, I cannot recommend it enough.
- Pal