Odie Leigh plays at El Club in Detroit

The line wrapping around El Club in Detroit, looking like it was about to attend a Bon Iver-Chappell Roan combo-concert, left me feeling wholly underdressed in my black T-shirt and brown pants. With a total crowd of about 200, spanning from early teens to 50-somethings, Odie Leigh and her opener Charlotte Rose Benjamin have a wide appeal. 

Just 10 minutes after doors, I saw a merch line about 40 people long and about the same number eagerly standing in front of the empty stage. As I staked out my spot for the night, we listened to El Club’s eclectic playlist of everything from Kenny Rogers to Charli XCX. Looking around, I noticed something: This may be the first concert I had ever been to where I wasn’t one of the youngest people there.

As I contemplated the perpetual march of time, the weird playlist turned off, the room dimmed, the stage lights came on and a cheer arose from the crowd. Shrouded in a feathery rainbow boa, Charlotte Rose Benjamin told us she was kicking off the second leg of Odie Leigh’s Carrier Pigeon tour. Then she got into the music. 

The band started off with some of their older songs, including my personal favorite, “Slot Machine.” Benjamin’s voice filled the venue like water overflowing a cup; all the while, the guitar rang out in the sweetest tone I had ever heard. As Benjamin’s set ventured into songs from their latest album, Moth Mouth, a bubbly indie pop record anchored by Benjamin’s powerfully wispy vocals, I couldn’t help but sway with the crowd. Onstage, Charlotte Rose Benjamin and the band laid down their bedroom indie grooves methodically but not mechanically, and some sick-ass guitar solos even made the dads in the audience bob their heads. Just because they mostly play softer music didn’t mean they couldn’t go hard in their 30-minute set. My one complaint is that their set wasn’t longer.

When Odie Leigh and her band came on stage, the room exploded with cheers, even as the frontman herself wore a deadpan expression. Within seconds of strumming the first chord, her stoicism melted to reveal what can only be described as joy. What struck me first was the harmonies. Now I am always a sucker for a good harmony, but these blew me away, and they never let up throughout the entire set. It was the same with Leigh’s voice. The harmonies from the band were effortless, almost as if they had always existed in the room and the band was channeling them through their mics. Listening to her music, I knew she would sound better live, but hearing the warm analog sound of her voice was an ethereal experience.

Between every song, Leigh talked to the crowd, asking us how we were doing and telling us about her life. She never hesitated to get the audience involved, responding to audience members who shouted their praise. It was hard not to sway to the gentle yet assertive music, whose rhythm section was precisely controlled with zero wasted movement. The setlist was made up of songs like “No Doubt” and “Conversation Starter” from the tour’s titular album Carrier Pigeon, but also deeper cuts into her discography like “Chutes & Ladders” and her viral hit “Crop Circles.” Regardless, the crowd seemed to know every word.

Framed by neon bangs, an ornate silver capo and a lipstick-red guitar, Odie Leigh’s performance felt almost theatrical. Every note and movement had the same flourish and polish as a Broadway musical: heavily practiced, but not robotic. That doesn’t mean there weren’t a few hiccups, though. This was Leigh and her band’s first show on the second leg of their tour, so tuning took a bit longer and a verse’s lyrics were a little flubbed on one song. But, the venue’s energy never let up even when Leigh was doing her gorgeous fingerpicking solo on stage. That being said, it did get a little wild at the end after the drummer Grace demanded the crowd, “Open up the fucking pit!” causing a circle “mosh” of indie kids to emerge. 

If you did want a show filled with shredding and thrashing, you’d be out of luck at an Odie Leigh show. But if you want to connect with an artist and get lost in a performance, then you’re in the right spot. 

Daily Arts Contributor Miles Anderson can be reached at milesand@umich.edu.

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