After an inauspicious start, Speedy Ortiz recovered to rock Will’s Pub in Orlando on Monday, March 4th. Local trio TV Dinner kicked off the night with their brand of self-described “twee pop.” Combining lo-fi melodies, droning guitars, and somber lyrics, singer/guitarist Julia Joyce and the band treated the early arrivers to a melodic performance with occasional bursts of aggression. TV Dinner’s greatest contribution to the night, however, would be with its equipment.
Chicago duo OHMME, performing here as a trio by adding a touring drummer, then riled up the small indie venue with a lively performance. Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart shared vocal duties as well as guitar duties, with Stewart occasionally playing bass riffs on her guitar using an octave pedal. OHMME deftly contrasted off-kilter rhythms, thrashing guitars, and Sonic Youth-esque noise with beautiful vintage vocal harmonies, most notably on the set-closing “Woman.”
Speedy Ortiz opened its headlining set with a raucous rendition of “Buck Me Off,” but in doing so, the always-energetic bassist Darl Ferm broke a string. He then apologized for not being prepared with spare strings. With the members of TV Dinner nowhere to be found and OHMME not having a bass guitar in the band, Ferm decided to borrow Macie Stewart’s guitar and octave pedal, playing the basslines on the six-string. The band then played on with that setup for the next four songs, including the singles “Lucky 88” and “Raising the Skate.” The band’s sound suffered from the lack of heavy bass, but they played as aggressive as ever.
After tearing through “Graduates,” the band was happy to see a bass guitar held high in the first row of the crowd. Someone had notified TV Dinner bassist Ian Turner-Sanders about the dire need for a bass and he loaned his to Ferm for the rest of the night. Singer/guitarist Sadie Dupuis was relieved. “Our sound just clashes too much with three guitars,” she said. “That’s my review of bassless Speedy Ortiz,” she joked.
With bass guitar added back to the mix, the Boston rockers tore through the rest of its set with passion, punk rock energy, and the usual mix of discordant guitars, feedback, and rumbling rhythms. The set was dominated by newer songs, including eight of the eleven tracks on 2018’s Twerp Verse. With the midtempo rocker “You Hate the Title” coming the closest to a soft song, Dupuis and company rocked out, tearing through the frenetic songs while thrashing onstage. Dupuis’ scattershot, rapid-fire vocals were often overwhelmed by the loud, heavy band, with the distorted bass and crunching power chords intertwining with discordant lead guitar licks.
After the dynamic “Sport Death,” Dupuis announced, “We’ve entered what we consider the encore portion of the show, though we won’t leave the stage.” Joking with the crowd at the small venue, which doesn’t include a backstage area, she said, “If anyone has to pee, we won’t be offended.” The band then jumped into two snarling older songs, “No Below” and “Taylor Swift.” Though far from a perfect performance, Speedy Ortiz overcame the equipment problems and delivered a powerful performance that showcased its passion, lively stage show, and ability to adapt on the fly.
