Snail Mail Lets the Songs Do the Talking at a Packed Big Night Live
Five years is a long time to wait. Snail Mail's last album, Valentine, came out in 2021, and while Lindsey Jordan has surfaced here and there in the time since, the prolonged silence ahead of Ricochet was felt. Friday night at Big Night Live in Boston, nobody seemed to mind that they'd had to wait.
Sharp Pins and Swirlies warmed up the room ahead of Snail Mail's set, the former bringing lo-fi power pop from Chicago, the latter a local shoegaze act that's been at it since 1990. Neither was a bad set, but the crowd's energy told the real story. Big Night Live was packed, and it was packed for Lindsey Jordan.
When she finally took the stage, the room completely let loose everything they’d held pent up since the doors opened. Jordan paused at one point to remark on how everyone seemed to know every word, which given the five-year gap since Valentine and the fact that Ricochet had only been out for three weeks, was genuinely impressive. She also noted that the red curtains draped along the sides of the venue were giving her strong Shining vibes, getting a good laugh from the crowd that might not have noticed just how eerie the venue can look in the right lighting.
The set opened on “Tractor Beam" and mostly focused on songs off of Ricochet, which made sense. This was the album's tour, and Jordan clearly wanted to give it room to breathe in a live setting. “My Maker", “Dead End" and “Hell," were all clear set highlights showing off her newer material. But the set didn't neglect the back catalog either. “Headlock" and “Valentine" drew some of the bigger reactions of the night. They’re songs that a room full of longtime fans have been waiting years to hear again. “Pristine," saved for the encore alongside “Thinning," closed things out and sent the room home exactly as you'd want.
The staging was sparse. Houses in the background, red curtains framing the sides, and not much else. Jordan didn't chase theatrics or fill the space with production. She let the guitar playing and the songs carry the evening, and they were more than capable of doing exactly that.
Ricochet released as the work of an artist who has sharpened her perspective considerably since Valentine. It asks heavier questions about mortality and time, and delivers them with more confidence than ever before. Live, that combination held true. Friday night at Big Night Live was the first look at this record on a Boston stage, and it made a strong case that it won't be the last.
