Jen Cloher rocks out with Philadelphia at Johnny Brenda’s

With Courtney Barnett on guitar and Mia Dyson warming up the stage, Jen Cloher bought January to a smashing end with a sold out Johnny Brenda’s show Wednesday night. On the second to last night of this USA take over by the Australians, the venue was packed in with fans looking for a midweek pick up.

Mia Dyson took the stage first with full energy and stories going back to her and Jen first meeting. Her new album, If I Said Only So Far I Take it Back, is due out this coming March, and drew the room’s attention with a full opening set filled with a satisfying mix of songs. Dyson’s opening set ended and several minutes later Jen Cloher began, but it felt as though the two sets blended into one (in a good way).

Jen Cloher and Mia Dyson | Photo by: Ellen Miller | ellencm.com 

“This is a great Philadelphia gig,” Cloher said. From the moment she took the stage with her band, the whole room was cheering.

Cloher played mostly songs from her self-titled album released in 2017, but with a few older songs and fun conversation mixed in as well. Naturally the Philadelphia Eagles were bought up before the night ended. However, this led to mixed reactions in the crowd when our beloved Eagles were briefly compared to Melboune’s football team who hasn’t won in way too long Luckily the band was able to recover quickly. After a good amount sports talk occurred by the band, Cloher gave everyone a laugh by admitting to not actually liking sports much, then continued performing her brilliant music.

Jen Cloher | Photo by: Ellen Miller | ellencm.com

When the encore began, Mia Dyson came out to do a song with Cloher – this is always a nice touch to any show. There was a big cheer from the audience when Jen Cloher asked if anyone had been to the Courtney Barnett / Kurt Vile show, to which she responded “That’s a good return rate!” I would be surprised if I was the only one thinking (hoping?) that perhaps that question would be followed up with Kurt Vile taking the stage to play the next song with them, but he didn’t. With that said, the Cloher band played a great set allowing the audience get lost in the music forgetting they had to be back at work in the morning; and really that’s exactly what a good show should do.

Check out the set list and full photo gallery below.

Setlist
Regional Echo
Forgot Myself
Sensory Memory
Shoegazers
Analysis
Mount Beauty
Stone Age
Great Australian
Needle
Strong Woman
Fear is like a Forest
Name in Lights