Local indie pop and rock band The Matriarch performed unreleased originals, covers and their latest release, “Welcome to The Matriarch,” on Oct. 15 at Blockhouse Bar. Nic Siemer, local musician, opened the show and punk rock band The Croakes performed after her.
Siemer played songs off her album “Night Lights,” which she self-recorded in her bathroom and released in June. She played on an acoustic guitar, which she said she’s still learning how to play.
Her set started with “When I’m in Space” and continued with “Time,” “Night in Blue,” “Places We’ve Never Been,” among other songs.
“Give Me a Word,” which she played Saturday night, was written by accident. She was suffering from writer’s block while writing a different song and ended up writing about not being able to put things into words.
She also performed “A Little Less Like Hell” and “My Own Woman,” followed by "No," an unreleased original she wrote last week.
Siemer sang about someone who said they loved her when she didn’t feel known by them, didn’t feel loved by them and refused to let them take up space in her mind.
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The singer-songwriter ended her set with her favorite song, “Failed.”
The Croakes performed unreleased originals along with their released songs “Eternal Purgatory,” “Anything or Whatever” and “S.R.”
The band also covered artists including Soccer Mommy and Nirvana. Drummer Malachi Hannula kicked off “Lounge Act” with a groan into his microphone.
Clad in suits and supported by the Squishmallows they put on the stage, The Matriarch started their performance by playing the intro track of their EP, “Welcome to The Matriarch.”
Members of the band took turns listing values of The Matriarch including sisterhood, growth, love, breaking down the patriarchy, creating a safe utopia and ending gender hierarchy.
They also listed rules important to The Matriarch, including staying present, accepting others, loving others, kissing your friends and tipping your bartenders.
The bar was full and the crowd was against the stage as the vocalist Al Erftenbeck sang “Drunk and Lonely” with her hand over her heart.
Jo Hockemeyer talked to the crowd about the difficulties women and non-binary people face in the music scene, which she said is dominated by cisgender men. The band then began playing “Respect,” a song written by Hockemeyer calling to be respected as women in the music industry.
Erftenbeck took off her suit jacket to reveal a lace white bra before inviting the crowd to chant “respect me” as they got louder.
The Matriarch also performed “Sun Song” and “A Story Untold (222)” off their recently released EP. Erftenbeck smiled throughout the entire set as the band’s friends, family and other community members were cheering louder and louder after each song.
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After they performed each song off their EP, they played their released single, “Best Wishes,” a song about accepting defeat when the other person in the relationship can’t provide what is needed.
Erftenbeck invited Antonio Rosario to the stage, a student in Jacobs and a member of the local band Mindfully Blind, explaining that the two went to high school together and he had reached out wanting to record a song for them.
The band then performed their unreleased original, “Seasons,” which they had written to record with Rosario. During the performance, Erftenbeck took a phone from an audience member to post a BeReal and sang about growing pains, changes and first goodbyes.
“When you least expect it, you might just fall in love,” she sang.
The crowd chanted for an encore after their set. They decided to perform a cover, “Shut Up Kiss Me” by Angel Olsen.
“This song is super gay, so you’ll like this one,” Drummer Mal Babcock said.
