By Meg Keough
Indie Live’s first concert of 2023 on Feb. 18 brought a dawn of another year of connecting communities through live indie music at Heartwood Soundstage. The anticipation of Indie Live’s first show of the spring featuring MADWOMAN, P.M.Tiger, MAK and Saturn Lights drew a crowd of over 100 attendees to feel the rhythm of the Gainesville and Tampa-based bands. Sounds of concert goers softly chatting around fire pits melded with the pre-show playlist composed of local artists who are performing at future Indie Live concerts, like The Late Night Losers and Driptones. As the concert goers’ voices created a backing track for the tunes playing prior to the sets, the relaxed environment eased them into an array of different genres within indie music.
With their not-quite indie and not-quite punk sound, the Gainesville-based band Saturn Lights began the show with a relaxed rock energy shown in their original song “You Stare Into the Sun Sometimes” that welcomed the crowd up to the stage and readied them for harder rock to come. Their transition to more grunge influences came to fruition in the middle of their set when they performed their upcoming debut single, “This Song is About Jenny.” In “This Song is About Jenny,” Saturn Lights guitarist and lead vocalist Michael Hagan’s crooning paired with sharp, high-pitched screaming fuses indie and metal vocals together and signals their music’s ability to unleash raw emotions. Throughout the set, drummer Dylan Lore and bassist Josh Middlebrooks played into the rise and descent to crowd moshing and pure angst through hard-hitting beats and improvised endings cued by Lore’s snare.
Through their set after Saturn Lights’ performance, MAK sought to deliver a distinct “post-punk, psychedelic, garage rock indie” sound as described by their frontman Ian Makrianes, bassist Aidan Makrianes and drummer Drake Morgan. The Tampa-based band’s involvement in Heartwood’s Indie Live production was illuminated by the Heartwood production team’s coordinating lighting artistry. From blue lights moving in waves of soft to bright during “At Sea” or the breadth of fog clouding over green and yellow tones during “Light Pollution,” it was clear that the production team understood how to translate the lyrics and themes within MAK’s performance into a burst of cool and warm toned colors becoming brighter and dimmer along with the beat of the music.
P.M.Tiger’s inflatable tiger, named Horatio, became one of the most legendary crowd surfers in Indie Live’s history. P.M.Tiger’s set became an experience all on its own, marked by their eccentric way of captivating Indie Live’s crowd. Whether it be tossing Horatio in the crowd or having a vintage sticker dispenser at the merch table, the Tampa-based band’s lead vocalist and guitarist Jordan Rosenberg, keyboardist and vocalist Josh Rosenberg, bassist and vocalist Max McEwan, lead guitarist and vocalist John Bruno and drummer Adam Kennedy sought to turn Indie Live into what they call a “Tiger Palace.” Whether it be the dreamy synth beats in their original song “Shapez” or smooth and effortless vocals in their latest release “Catfish Motel,” P.M.Tiger caters their music towards enjoying the quirks and zaniness of life.
“I feel like our music is for everybody, and there is a song or vibe that everybody in the crowd can always connect to,” Jordan Rosenberg said.
The Gainesville-based band, MADWOMAN, brought forth an experience akin to an ethereal yoga session led by song. The flow of their music immersed listeners into a sound bath focused on the free release of emotions and unconditional inclusion encouraged by MADWOMAN’s lead singer Leni Daigle, guitarist Chan McFarland, drummer Unmil Patel, bassist Riley Sechrest and keyboardist Louie Dager. The locally-loved band is currently signed to the University of Florida’s Swamp Records, one of the organizers of the Indie Live concert series, which has strengthened their connection to the concert as a band who has bonded with the record label uniting people through the concert series.
Daigle and McFarland describe the start of their set with their song “Underneath” down the path to their final songs “Confusion” and “Unfold” as a voyage through various indie sounds.
“Because it is a cathartic release for me and the band, it gives other people permission to have their cathartic release,” said Daigle. “It feels really special that we all have that moment together.”
MADWOMAN’s performance felt like an auditory meditation session, with a heightened focus on internally connecting with the highs and lows of interacting with music.
Connections strengthened through music at Indie Live also extends to family, as in the case of MADWOMAN’s Chan McFarland and fellow audience member, and sister, Anna McFarland. The experience as an audience member and sister who has been there since the beginning has allowed Anna McFarland to see the evolution of the beginning of MADWOMAN to becoming a Gainesville and Indie Live staple.
“It’s super cool to see MADWOMAN really dive into the entire performance aspect after watching them grow from when they were practicing in our home’s garage doing some covers,” Anna McFarland said. “Watching them at these bigger shows is kind of mind-blowing, and you can tell that they’re really enjoying it through the performance.”
When reflecting upon collectively celebrating indie music in Gainesville, Indie Live’s producer Kayleigh Thomas notes that the bands’ talents to play sets that foster intimacy between themselves and Gainesville’s music community helped the 2023 Indie Live opening show come to life. Through understanding Thomas’s journey from attending Indie Live shows and experiencing the crowd-band connection to becoming Heartwood’s producer of the concert series, seeing the full scope of Indie Live’s ability to welcome people into the Gainesville music scene is evident.
“This is more than a concert series, it’s a whole community,” Thomas said. “If I’m producing a concert and that community is coming out then that’s something so much more than just having a band onstage and an audience. It really is a community and connection.”
Comments