photos and text by Matt Kelchner
It’s been a whirlwind of a ride for Ryn Weaver, the young singer/songwriter behind the viral 2014 hit “Octahate”. Since putting out the insanely catchy song, she has gone on to release her debut full length album, The Fool, via Mad Love/Interscope Records and perform at numerous mega festivals throughout the summer. More recently she has taken to the road for a number of headlining gigs as part of her Misfit Toys tour. As the shows come to end, Weaver brought things into Philadelphia Sunday night at the Foundry for an electrifying concert full of up and coming pop acts.
Joining Weaver throughout the tour were a pair of buzzworthy artists, Holy Child and Astr. Playing in that order, the two delivered different takes on the genre. Despite it being a chilly Sunday night, the crowd came out early to see them both.
In the lead off spot, LA’s Holy Child provided enough energy and spunk to the entire crowd and then some. Fronted by a little powderkeg of a frontwomen in Liz Nistico who seemingly spent just as much time singing in the crowd (and on the bar) as she did on stage. Together with multi instrumentalist Louie Diller, they write self described “brat pop”, a take on pop music that challenges a lot of the social norms of the society built around the genre. Their album The Shape of Brat Pop to Come, a clever spin on that famous Refused album, was on full display Sunday night and the crowd loved every second of it.
Next up were the duo of Zoe Silverman and Adam Pallin, aka Astr. The New York City natives brought out much more of a club with their infusion of thumping house beats and pop melodies. They played through a number of their hits that have garnered themselves more and more attention as of late, including one of their latest “Bleeding Love”. Song after song Silverman took to the stage with a sense of attitude and command that made it nearly impossible to not be engulfed with each beat.
The fear of most stars whose rise to fame is fueled from one earworm of a hit is crafting a song so good that they become a one hit wonder. Not the case with Ryn Weaver. Yes, “Octahate” was by far the most well known song Sunday night and yes basically every single person in the crowd sung along. But it was clear that the fans did not come just to hear that one tune. There are a number of other gems on The Fool and Weaver made that known in her 45 minutes or so on stage.
From song to song, a sort of untamed, raw energy sprung up from time to time. Whether it came in the beautifully belting out notes or edgy, scratchy growls, it added a different layer to Weaver’s performance Sunday night. And when she wasn’t running through songs like “Pierre” and “Promises”, Weaver was connecting with fans through the personal back stories behind certain songs. It’s this unique makeup that makes the 23 year old singer/songwriter a fresh, unique face in the often dull and predictable world of pop music.
Weaver ended Sunday night the same way she does on The Fool, with the wonderful “New Constellations. It was one of the best examples of just how amazing her vocals are. The stage at the Foundry may have been one of the smallest she’s played on this tour (not all of her backing band’s amps could fit with everyone else on stage) and it’s for certain that we’re not going to see her on anything remotely that tiny any time soon.
