Beneath a frame of lanterns a few feet off the stage, EMA (Erika M. Anderson) played to a close group of attendants at the Luminary Arts, giving them a personal presentation of her acclaimed album Past Life Martyred Saints.

Local trio Britches started the evening, donning costume heads and playing a nearly non-stop set of experimental noise. I don’t claim to be a connoisseur of the genre, but they seemed solid. One downfall of the continuous set? The audience (self-included) not being sure about when to give applause.

The small crowd took another step forward as EMA and her backing band took the stage, starting her first song with a black scarf draped over her head to match the haunting mood. Throughout the set, Anderson’s voice and presence shifted from chilling and morose to bold and incendiary, showing her knack in infusing memorable moods within her songs. While there weren’t a ton of folks out that evening to see her, let’s hope the response the crowd gave was enough to get her back here again on her next tour.

Shot for The Luminary Arts.

Further Listening: Past Life Martyred Saints

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