Listening to the luminous Valerie June is like being a confidant to a warm, wise friend who happens to do all the talking. At the Ardmore Music Hall, she moved seamlessly between instruments (a couple of banjos, a couple of guitars), sentiments (love, loss, gratitude, grief) and genres (folk, soul, blues).
She looked positively beatific under the perfect stage lighting, but sounded gorgeously gritty and deliciously down to earth on songs like “Astral Plane,” “Got Soul” and “This World Is Not My Home.”
Parker Gispert of the Whigs opened with an engaging set that played off his natural chattiness and broad emotional range. Highlights: “Magnolia Sunrise,” “Volcano” and the unexpectedly funny “Is It 9?”
—M.J. Fine; photos by Chris Sikich
