July Talk @ Union Stage [DC] - 4/12/2022
July Talk at Union Stage in DC (Photo ©2022 Mauricio Castro)
The mighty five-piece from up north have returned. Their DC9 show in 2017 proved the Toronto rock band to be one of the most fun and engaging performers I’ve seen in town, and that has held still in the years since. Their Union Stage performance was one that gave co-leads Leah Fay and Peter Dreimanis much more space to do their thing - dance, jump, and show off some theatrical give and take between the two. The group played largely from their 2017 album Touch and 2013 self-titled debut, only drawing two songs from 2020’s Pray For It and including two new songs, the raucous “I Am Water” and the unreleased “Roaming the Streets.” During the encore, the band mentioned that they were in the midst of recording their fourth album, and from the preview we received in DC, it’s shaping up to be a loud one, one that Dreimanis and Fay will have no issue getting wild on stage with.
July Talk’s latest single “I Am Water” is out now through Six Shooter Records.
Opening for July Talk was blues-punk musician Shilpa Ray, whose Blondie-meets-riot-grrl energy shines on stage, both in her performance on the keys and in her romps through the crowd as her band tore through powerful performances of “Manic Pixie Dream Cunt” and “Bootlickers of the Patriarchy.” Her latest album Portrait of a Lady is out on April 29 through Northern Spy Records.
Photos by Mauricio Castro
SETLIST
Picturing Love
Now I Know
Lola + Joseph
Pay for It
Beck + Call
Life of the Party
Guns + Ammunition
I Am Water
Touch
Headsick
Roaming the Streets
Johnny + Mary
Push + Pull
Encore
Summer Dress
The Garden