Firehorse Plays Their Swan Song at Mercury Lounge

New York – Leah Siegal is a true artist. She’s inventive, she’s interesting, and indisputably talented. It’s no surprised that her list of collaborators and accomplishments is already impressive, having worked with members of Broken Social Scene, Metric, Sean Lennon, and several other respected names involved with the music scene in Brooklyn and beyond. She’s also involved in more than one project, but Firehorse has been her main gig. Leah and her band’s past show at Mercury Lounge served as Firehorse’s swan song, as they are taking a break for a while, but it’s mostly for Leah to focus on her new, more dancey project with Dave Hodge (Broken Social Scene & Bran Van 3000), Leisure Cruise

At this show, Leah exhibited plenty of the free-spirited energy I had heard about, along with her amazingly smokey voice. That voice! She manages to keep it real and be comforting at the same time, like being told a hard truth by someone who’s not above it all. She isn’t afraid to be completely honest through her compositions, and while doing so she also encourages others to do the same, and stay true to themselves. Right from the opener “Good,” she was already transmitting an upbeat, powerful message with lines like “Why try to stay in line / We shouldn’t be confined.” Later, when she played crowd favorite “Our Hearts” from her first album And So They Ran Faster, she had a similar message with “Don’t fight what you’re made of.”

By that time, there was no doubt that Leah and her band were playing to a room of folks who were already fans and believers. She put out the good vibes and she got them right back. When she mentioned being a bit parched, someone brought her a handful of full cups. In general the response had been building as the set wore on, but the highlight for me was when they played “Fool,” off her latest record Pills From Strangers. When she hit those off the chart high notes, I was left speechless, and sold a million times. Even watching this video, I can’t even. Oof.

At the end of the set, which felt too short despite being a full set, and Firehorse also playing one last song and then one for real last song, dozens of balloons got thrown in the crowd. It was kind of heartwarming, and a very sweet and fitting sendoff, with everyone batting the balloons around and keeping it all alive until the last note. Even more fitting was that right after, the brand new Leisure Cruise record came on the PA, for everyone to depart on and dance to. Here’s to smooth sailing.