Mallrat Graces Neumos for Sold-Out Show

Shout-out to any venue that has started posting door times separate from start times, because understanding when the opener goes on can be pretty confusing. This is a reminder that you can always check the headliner or any opener’s social media on the day of the show for a possible hint at confirmed start times.

For this show, our opener Anna Shoemaker was kind enough to actually play her whole set TWICE. As it turns out, while the venue had posted online that door times were 8pm, the physical posting outside the venue had the opener starting at 8pm. Whatever the mixup, it was still a shoulder-to-shoulder packed show for the night.

Having just released her sophomore album, Someone Should Stop Her on February 21st, Anna mentions that this record is a deeply personal album. After leaving a long-time relationship because she knew it wasn’t right, she attempted to quell her heartbreak by moving from NYC to LA. A tale possibly as old as America itself, this album really focuses on her shedding all that NYC angst for LA sunshine. Pop punk follow up album anyone?

Shoemaker’s presence on stage was a comforting warm glow of her front and center by herself with her guitar and a microphone in quality songwriter fashion. Having already played one opening set, she was still complimentary and thankful to the audience giving their whole attention for the second act. With a healthy mix of vibes including Phoebe Bridgers and Holly Humberstone, as well as some 90s legends like Alanis Morissette and Sheryl Crow, Anna’s blending of all the above gives a nice sprinkle of curiosity when you listen to the album start to finish wondering what style she’ll pull from next. Keep an eye on her, as she was recently featured on People’s Emerging Artists list as well as Alt Press’ Rising Artists list.

Our headliner Mallrat, aka Grace Shaw, has been consistently releasing the perfect mix of dreamy indie pop since her first EP in 2017. Having originally listened to her song “Groceries” (which just hit 100 million streams on Spotify) back in 2018, this was my first opportunity to see her live with her latest album release tour for Light Hit My Face Like a Straight Right. Having previously toured with artists including Post Malone, Maggie Rogers, and King Princess, Mallrat is now selling out her own headline tours at home in Australia, as well as internationally. If her name doesn’t sound familiar, there’s always the chance you’d recognize her as the voice of the song “R U HIGH,” produced by The Knocks, where her vocals take front and center.

Sporting some pretty sweet all-white Audio Technica ATH-M50x’s, Mallrat’s personality shined on stage with her consistent dancing across the entirety of the Neumos stage giving everyone a taste of the fun. Grace was gracious enough to let us all know that this night was her drummer India Pascucci’s birthday. After a crowd-filled rendition of “Happy Birthday,” the show continued with songs like “Something for Somebody,” where Grace said she may have forgotten some words but really liked the song, and “Horses,” which she dedicated to her sister, who passed away last May. While she has mentioned wanting to keep it all private and hide under a rock, she also wants the world to know just how much she loved her. We were also treated to timeless Mallrat classics including “Groceries,” and “Charlie.”

Closing out the show was a whirlwind of fun. Showing us her range on her latest album, Grace played a particularly rocky version of “Rockstar.” Following that, the crowd partied it up with her dreamy upbeat dance tune, “Hideaway.” Mimicking the flow of this album, “Hideaway” is followed up with “Love Songs/Heart Strings.” While it’s not the outro of the album, its place as an outro of the show feels perfectly placed thanks to its ethereal use of upbeat drums feeling fairly reminiscent of “Hideaway.” After she takes her time to kneel down and give many front row fans an appreciative hug on the way out, the lights come up and music is immediately tossed on the speakers as an obvious hint to make our way out without any opportunity of chanting what would be a well-deserved, “Encore!”