Glitterfox Makes The 7th Street Entry Shine

I have been lacking a bit in terms of attending shows. Truthfully, life got a bit nutty after my brother and his wife had their beautiful baby girl. Our parents live in Iowa, so over the weekend, my mom and her partner came up to visit the baby. My dad and step-mom will be making the trek up here today. Although I love shows, I also love family time, and I have been making that a priority. I know I'm missing a lot of great shows because of it, but if you saw my niece, you would understand. She truly is the picture-perfect baby, and seeing my brother and his wife so happy is bringing more joy than a concert ever could. That being said, I finally slipped away on Tuesday night to check out what was happening at The 7th Street Entry, and it was well worth sacrificing a rare night without family in town.

One of my favorite locals, Jillian Rae, was up first. There for a hot minute, I felt like I was seeing Jillian perform every week. That's not at all a complaint. Her charm is, well, charming, and her talent is undeniable, but I will say that I feel like I took it for granted. Having Jillian's spirit and aura lift my day after day was terrific, and then it just disappeared. I'm not sure what happened, but I know that as she took the stage on Tuesday night, I could feel my heart flutter a bit. Typically, Jillian comes in the form of a full four-piece band, but on Tuesday night, it was her chilled-out duo set featuring herself and a guitarist. I thought I was in the mood for a full-band show, but as the duo started playing, I realized that was silly and that this duo performance was exactly what I needed.

I love how raw everything is with Jillian Rae. Her lyrics cover a wide range of topics, but when they delve into mental health, it's a message that resonates deeply within your soul. Instead of overcomplicating it, she makes sure that the words she uses are hers and hers only, which just adds to the charm that you see shine between tracks. In addition to all of that, there's a sense of power that radiates from Jillian. Although I felt that this low-key set was a bit more subdued than others, there was no ignoring the fire that was emanating from this woman. Honestly, and I know this is going to sound cheesy, Jillian Rae is just a certain kind of cool that intimidates you in a way, but, at the same time, empowers you. It had been a couple of months since the last time I saw Jillian Rae perform, so I was more than thrilled that she was the way I kicked off my Tuesday night, and I'm already hoping that I can hit another string of shows where I see her a couple more times in the very near future.

Headlining Tuesday night's show was Portland-based Glitterfox. I had never heard of this band before this show, and, honestly, if someone hadn't mentioned this show to me, I probably wouldn't have had it on my radar. However, I now know that would have been a huge mistake. The first thing that struck me about this band was their sound. I know it's going to be bold to say this, but this group is like a modern-day Fleetwood Mac. Okay, maybe not stylistically. Their sound leans a bit more towards indie-pop with grungy valleys and Americana-feeling peaks than I think Fleetwood would if they were a thing in this day and age, but there was something about the vocals that gave me all the Stevie Nicks vibes. That matched the glittery instrumentation and the undeniable sense of heart and fire that came from this band, instantly winning me over, and I knew there was no other way to spend my Tuesday night.

Glitterfox's set wasn't explosive. There were no high kicks, and the audience really only stood there, taking it all in, yet there was an energy behind this set that I found irresistible. Although this band has clearly put in the time and effort to practice everything, there was something free-flowing about their set and overall aura. Like Jillian Rae's set, the personality of Glitterfox shone everywhere, and that only exacerbated the passion that came from their music. Everything was transparent and relatable, creating a set where, even if you walked in blind like I did, you instantly felt loved, understood, and appreciated. I hate to call them out on this, but one of my favorite parts of Tuesday night was when the band kicked into a song, but quickly, it fell apart. I think some of the lyrics were wrong or something like that, but it got a good laugh out of both the band and the audience. At first, the band seemed to feel the need to explain why that had just happened. This was the first day of the tour, they had just driven two full days to get here, so on and so on, but after it happened a second time, all they could do was laugh, and the audience was right there with them. Glitterfox's sound and overall presence is very professional and, again, they have clearly put time into their craft but this little moment was such a fun and raw reminder of how, at the end of the day, these are people who just genuinely love making music and presenting it to the masses-- they are human just like the rest of us and I think that charm really highlighted an already stunning set.