Lucy Dacus
w/ Katie Gavin, jasmine.4.t
The Ryman Auditorium; Nashville, TN
April 29, 2025
Review by Philip Obenschain. Photos by Mary-Beth Blankenship.
While we’ve been Lucy Dacus fans since her Nashville-recorded debut album, No Burden, arrived almost a decade ago, and have seen her play some memorable shows over the years, from intimate spots like The High Watt and The Basement, to a tent set at Bonnaroo, to a previous outing at The Ryman on the tour that would give birth to her supergroup boygenius, the LA by way of Virginia singer-songwriter hadn’t played a solo show in Music City since boygenius’ explosive last couple of years, which shot Lucy and her bandmates (Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers) to unprecedented mainstream success and earned multiple Grammy wins. Dacus has, however, appeared in Nashville more recently with the aforementioned group, as headliners at 2023’s traveling Re:SET Festival in Centennial Park, and earlier that year for a surprise appearance with Taylor Swift at Nissan Stadium (Swift would later name-check Dacus in a lyric on her latest album, The Tortured Poets Department). All that is to say, for her recent return to The Ryman, on tour in support of her fantastic new album Forever Is a Feeling, Lucy arrived with a more fervent fanbase, more hype, and more attention than ever, unsurprisingly selling out two nights at the Mother Church, and boasting fantastic openers in Kate Gavin and jasmine.4.t. And, of course, we were beyond elated to see the singer solo once more, and so thrilled by the well-deserved wave of newfound attention since the last time we caught her as a headliner. Read on for our review of night one by editor Philip Obenschain, with photos from Mary-Beth Blankenship!
Not to be that “I knew about them first” guy, but well before boygenius, I was a big of of Dacus, Bridgers, and former Nashville resident Baker, and saw all three artists play some incredibly intimate shows back in the 2010s. I was stoked when the trio announced a joint tour in 2018, and even moreso when that tour resulted in the very first boygenius EP (which, at the time, was made simply for the purpose of playing a few songs together during the set; not to become a real band). Seeing that version of boygenius at The Ryman years ago was magical, and given the several year gap before they reconvened (made longer due to the pandemic), I fully expected it to be a one-off. But when The Record was announced and became so much more- perhaps a crowning artistic achievement for all three artists- it was really incredible and stunning to witness. And, of course, the byproduct of becoming a huge band together, is that Bridgers, Baker, and Dacus are now more individually famous than they’re ever been, with Lucy marking the first to release new music since, and touring in the biggest rooms she’d played solo to date (not to imply she’s riding boygenius’ coattails, but rather way more people have simply become privy to the brilliance of Lucy Dacus).
Unsurprisingly, The Ryman was packed early, with a merch line stretching through the balcony, the crowd seemed pretty similar to those at recent boygenius shows; mostly Gen Z and femme presenting. Of the night’s two openers, I was less familiar with UK-based indie folk singer jasmine.4.t, but her links to Dacus and boygenius were extensive (she’s toured with Lucy, is signed to Phoebe’s imprint, and has collaborated with Julien), and her sound is a perfect compliment. Jasmine typically plays with a full band I believe, but for this show, was backed by one bandmate, Phoenix Rousiamanis (who would accompany all three of the evening’s performers), on violin, keys, and additional vocals, making for a more stripped-down, raw vibe. It was a fairly short performance, but a powerful one, and though I only knew a few of the songs, I was really blown away by Jasmine’s songwriting and emotionally resonant performance style, which alternated from more twangy, introspective folk to punchy, pop-accessible indie rock. In the middle of the set, Katie Gavin joined for a duet of single “Guy Fawkes Tesco Dissociation,” (Phoebe Bridgers features on the recorded version) which was absolutely electrifying, and after a few more tunes, closing with profound and heartfelt reflection of gender identity, “Woman,” the all-too-brief opening set had finished. Consider me a new fan- I don’t know how I’ve neglected listening to more jasmine.4.t to this point, but I’ll be correcting that immediately.
I believe the first time I saw Katie Gavin live with her band MUNA was in 2017, also at The Ryman, opening for Harry Styles (yes, that’s a surreal thing that really happened), and I’ve been following them since, particularly since the breakout success of their 2022 eponymous third album (released through Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory import; sensing a theme here?). I last caught MUNA last summer at Bonnaroo and they were a blast, so I had no doubt that seeing Katie in a solo context would be just as captivating. Her first LP What a Relief takes on a much folkier bent, but still retains some of her band’s indie pop ethos, and feels even more singular, confessional, and self-reflective, and I’ve really enjoyed sitting with it over the last couple of months. Rocking an acoustic guitar (and occasionally a fiddle) and backed by a full band, it was immediately apparent from set opener “Casual Drug Use” that this would be quite different from a MUNA show (and also why Gavin chose to release these songs under her own name).
Packing so much twang I had to later Google if she did, in fact, grow up in the south (turns out no; in the suburbs of Chicago), the performance felt so intimate and timeless, and songs like “Inconsolable,” with the fiddle and rich harmonies, could’ve practically been mistaken for a Grand Ole Opry performance (which felt particularly special to witness on The Ryman stage). I wondered, for a moment, if low-key local resident Mitski could make an appearance for “As Good As It Gets,” but no such luck, and found at least one tune unfamiliar (the apparently-unreleased “She Gives Me Feelings”), but otherwise the whole set was made up of tracks from What a Relief, with no MUNA (I didn’t really expect it, since the vibe of Katie’s stuff is quite different). Ending with melancholy ballad “Keep Walking” and comparatively poppy single “Aftertaste,” Gavin’s set, like jasmine.4.t, felt all too brief, and I could’ve easily watched her play the other four tracks from the LP that didn’t make the cut and then some. To see a singer from a successful band make the jump to solo (don’t worry, MUNA isn’t breaking up) can sometimes feel clunky or unnecessary, but in Katie Gavin’s case, this different outlet of expression for this sonically distinct martial makes so much sense, and it gelled so perfectly with the rest of this lineup. Somewhat surprisingly, Gavin invited the whole crowd to a free afterparty at tiny East Nashville dive Ernie’s Boondock, where she and her sister would be DJing (I didn’t brave that one, but the clips on IG looked a lot of fun), and left me eagerly awaiting her next solo show in Nashville.
As I mentioned, I caught Lucy Dacus on some early tours nearly a decade ago, as well as a couple fests, and of course more recently with boygenius. I last saw her solo in our shared home state of Virginia, on tour with Bright Eyes, not long after the pandemic lockdown in support of her last album, Home Video, and I remember thinking even then that her live show had become a lot more confident and dynamic since those earlier days (and that was, of course, before boygenius blew up a couple years later, and led to even bigger and flashier shows than ever). I used to feel like Lucy was a bit under-appreciated compared to her bandmates, but that certainly seems to be the case no longer, as her latest album is being met with deservedly rave reviews, her online following and fanbase have become sprawling and tremendously passionate, and this tour has been a huge success, including these two sold out shows headlining at venue where she’s previously only served as opener.
Emerging to her new LP’s instrumental opener, “Calliope Prelude,” Lucy then launched into Home Video opener and popular single “Hot & Heavy,” one of just a handful of tunes from the last album that would make up a set almost entirely dominated by the latest stuff. Donning a suit- a look which became a signature during the last boygenius record cycle- and backed by an impressive band, Lucy’s stage had a sort of classic, ornate, fancy aesthetic reminiscent of the vibe of the album, adorned with gold and red velvet and art. Next up, and surprisingly early in the night, was recent single “Ankles,” which has been picking up steam as perhaps the catchiest single Forever will produce, with its layered, breezy folk instrumentation and singalong chorus (I’ll try not to keep invoking boygenius when talking about a Lucy solo show, but this song is also pretty boygenius-y).
It’s an odd sensation when fans are intimately familiar with the real-life subject matter of a deeply personal album, but in the case of Dacus’ latest, it was inevitable, as she’s very publicly been in a romantic relationship with bandmate Julien Baker, and so much of this new record is so clearly about coming to terms with those feelings and navigating that love. After the vibey “Modigliani,” a more platonic cut about missing her other bandmate, Phoebe Bridgers, and the beautiful, cabaret-esque “Limerence,” about coming to terms with new feelings, Dacus played one of the new songs most beloved by fans and most clearly about the beginnings of her relationship with Baker- the wistful, confessional “Big Deal”- which chronicles the feelings of accepting a love that has not yet blossomed into a formal relationship, and the practical implications of taking that plunge.
After a couple more Home Video songs- the propulsive and rocking “First Time” and hypnotic, earnest signalong “VBS”- Lucy played another stretch of new stuff, “Talk” then “Come Out,” before arriving at another new favorite, and perhaps the loveliest song about Baker on the new LP- “Best Guess,” resulting in some of the loudest cheers and prettiest singalongs of the entire night (I had wondered if Julien might be in attendance, since she lived in Nashville for many years, but it seemed she was playing a show out of state in support of her new collaboration album with Torres). Following that moving, emotional peak and midpoint of the set, Lucy scaled things back a bit, bringing out a circle of chairs in the middle of the carpeted stage, along with the plush loveseat she spent much of the boygenius tour on, due to an injury (something she joked about when it appeared on stage), for acoustic portion, beginning with newer tune (and already stripped-down composition) “For Keeps.” This portion is also where Lucy found space for a couple more older songs: the ballad-y “Christine,” from Home Video, and a scaled-back version of the one and only song from her debut (and almost certainly the first Lucy Dacus song I ever heard), “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore.” The acoustic segment ended with Katie Gavin returning to duet (in place of Hozier) with Lucy on the couch for “Bullseye” (Nashville’s Joy Oladokun would fill the guest spot on night two), which made for a really lovely and intimate moment.
Bringing things back up a notch, Lucy completed her play-through of the entirety of Forever Is a Feeling (a delight for the many fans like myself who absolutely love it), first with the record’s final two tracks, “Most Wanted Man” and the dynamic, epic build of “Lost Time,” before finishing the main set sans guitar, walking around the stage to deliver title track and de-facto album mission statement “Forever Is a Feeling,” a song which worked exceptionally well live (have I raved about how great this album is enough yet?). With every song from her latest already played, I knew the encore would have to be old stuff, but I was still surprised and elated when Lucy and her band reemerged, and launched into boygenius single “True Blue” (the room, as you can imagine, went wild for this one). When I saw boygenius- before they were even really boygenius- at The Ryman years ago, they only had half a dozen songs, so getting to see one of the new ones in this remarkable room was something special. To close the night (and to top the boygenius tune), there was only one place to go: the one and only song from breakout sophomore LP Historian, and one of Lucy’s most popular and enduring singles ever, “Night Shift,” met with exuberant applause and enthusiastic singalongs.
All throughout the show, Dacus alternated between her jovial, warm, and jokey anecdotes and more serious moments of gratitude and vulnerability, playing songs with such rawness and depth so few artists can achieve. A singular performer- though one elevated by the immense talent of her band- it’s so, so gratifying to see Lucy receive all of the praise and critical acclaim she’s always deserved, and whether or not she’s making music alone or with other projects, she’s one of the most important and gifted songwriters in the modern indie scene, a fact punctuated beyond a doubt at this magnetic return to The Ryman. Where things go from here I don’t know, but I selfishly hope she keeps playing spaces like this forever, because experiencing these types of songs so up close and personal really opens up their emotional core so powerfully. Regardless, whatever Lucy Dacus makes next, I’ll be first in line to listen, and I hope it won’t be long until I can experience the magic of her live show once again.
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All photos by Mary-Beth Blankenship
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Setlist:
Hot & Heavy
Ankles
Modigliani
Limerence
Big Deal
First Time
VBS
Talk
Come Out
Best Guess
For Keeps
Christine
I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore
Bullseye
Most Wanted Man
Lost Time
Forever Is a Feeling
True Blue
Night Shift