Torres, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper and Judson Claiborne on one bill

by Whitney Richardson

Torres, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper and opener Judson Claiborne shut the doors on their tour on June 27 at the Empty Bottle in Chicago.

Chicago-based Judson Claiborne opened the night, warming an unusually breezy Empty Bottle like a bonfire. A pacifying presence, to hear Judson felt like following the light of a fire’s orb. Dressed in shorts and loose tops, the musicians played winter music in summer clothes. Timeless lyrics, “We are getting older,” flowed out of Judson’s mouth, pooling into glimmers of nostalgia and resolve. A man wearing a ‘Torres’  jersey fluttered into view. Two red circle-lights sat idly behind the performers as the songs passed, watching over the growing audience.

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, the now Brooklyn-based folk-rock siren, followed, spinning her web in complete darkness. Melodic whispers of mythological creatures, curled in phonemes, crawled from her mouth as she lured the crowd in. (She’s not a beekeeper yet but wants to be, she told my friend, David, later). Lady Lamb captured attention like watching a streamer billow up through the rafters, while she possessed the sonic quality of wind. Songs about rebirth and a viral swing between the cry of a wolf to the gentle purr of a kitten reconciled with the heartbound.

Nashville’s Torres plunged the torch deeper into night. Her commanding, all-consuming presence, carried by an unwavering band, made the witnessing body spring to its feet. Torres embodied a nighttime diety, with the energy of a firefly, snapping into life on stage to provide us with an undeniable, elusive light, permeating the room with her afterglow. Torres has perfected the line between grounding and wildness. Songs like, “Jealousy and I” and “Honey” captured a familiar feeling in a new net, providing a unforeseen butterfly to catch.

From evening (Judson), dusk (Lady Lamb), to midnight (Torres), each performer spread their life in waves, capturing bits of the human spirit with them along the way.