On Sept. 25, the Horn Gallery hosted a show featuring visiting artists Mali Velasquez and Bloomsday. The two artists have been on tour together since Sept. 12,showcasing their respective recent albums: Bloomsday’s Heart of the Artichoke and Velasquez’s I’m Green. Bloomsday, a Brooklyn-based act composed of singer and songwriter Iris Garrison, guitarist Alex Harwood and their supporting band of five, opened the show a little after 9 p.m. They stepped out under the dim lights of the Horn Gallery, an entourage displaying all the necessary “indie” qualifications: clogs, mustaches and a carabiner here and there. They opened with “Where I End and You Begin,” one of the more popular songs from Heart of the Artichoke. Following this, they played 10 more thoughtful indie-rock songs, switching between stringed instruments. One of these instrument changes garnered particular attention: the somewhat bizarre slide guitar, a string instrument played from the lap.
Kenyon was Velasquez and Bloomsday’s first college show on the tour. Between songs, Bloomsday’s Garrison poked fun at the crowd demographic and asked, “What are you guys, just 18?” The comment got some laughs out of the crowd, and Garrison went on to joke, “I haven’t had a Natty Light in maybe 20 — no I’m not that old, maybe 10 years.”
When “Voicemail” began, a buzz of excitement radiated throughout the room. Those who were huddled outside the Upper Horn smoking quickly filed in for a good view and exchanged animated looks. Seemingly, many of the students at the performance were previous fans of either Bloomsday or Velasquez. Garrison’s soulful and melancholy voice accompanied by the waning, high-pitched notes of the slide guitar filled the space. Red lights illuminating the band reflected on the audience, some closing their eyes as they swayed to the music.
Harwood, the guitarist of Bloomsday, explained that many of the song transitions were improvised, a practice the band has been experimenting with while on tour “to keep the atmosphere going.” This experimentation has been one of the band’s highlights from the tour.
After a clarinet feature, and some emotional ballads, the band played their closer, “Old Friend.” The upbeat and lively ending to their set had students jumping to the music and cheering after solos from different band members. Harwood added that “Old Friend” is one of his favorites to play: “It’s the one we go crazy on, particularly on the solos.”
Velasquez took the stage at around 10:15 p.m., along with her five-member band. Her slow, wistful songs, played with a folky twang, gave the second half of the performance a soulful vibe. Based in Nashville, her songs have been inspired by styles of folk and country. However, more recently she has been experimenting with electronic pop sounds, especially notable on her album, I’m Green released in 2023. As the band began to play, electronic bird noises filled the speakers and the members began to shake their heads to the slow rhythm of the snare drum. Velazquez played 14 more songs, and ended the night with one of her hits, “Bobby,” a reflective song relying on the drums and synth to carry the melody.
Though Velasquez was the main act, Bloomsday had a more substantial and energized crowd. Likely because the show was on a weekday, around half of the concert attendees peeled away after Bloomsday finished performing, however, some Horn Gallery loyalists stayed the whole night. Ella Newgarden ’25, one of the Horn’s managers, was impressed with the turnout nonetheless. “So many people came out on a Wednesday,” she said. Harwood was also pleased with the audience and said that playing at Kenyon has been one of the band’s favorite stops on tour: “There’s an enthusiasm that’s different then what we are used to in Brooklyn where everybody goes to see shows everyday.”