Shopping played Great Scott – 3/1

U.K. post-punk trio Shopping headlined a pre-nor’easter show at Great Scott last Thursday with support from locals Halfsour and Melissa Weikart. 

Shopping are currently taking their propulsive tunes and infectious energy on tour throughout North America in support of their excellent third LP The Official Body. They made it to Boston just ahead of a nasty nor’easter storm on March 1, but the same couldn’t be said for L.A.-based openers French Vanilla, who had to drop from the bill due to a grounded flight. That band’s offbeat art-punk would’ve made for an excellent transatlantic complement, but local singer-songwriter Melissa Weikart, who played solo on keys and vocals, was a strong (if more subdued) last-minute replacement. Boston trio Halfsour – whose reference points run the spectrum of classic 90s indie rock – upped the volume as second on the bill.

Led by singer-guitarist Rachel Aggs, Shopping spent the duration of their headlining set dispelling the notion that the “post-punk” tag ought to only encompass bands of the dour and downcast variety. The genre hallmarks of anxious lyricism, spiky guitars, bouncing bass lines and air-tight rhythms were all present and accounted for, but Shopping were determined to make us dance, even if the world was burning. The set felt joyful and communal – look no further than Aggs engaging multiple audience members as auxiliary tambourine players – as well as exactingly precise in its musicality. Proof positive that the band’s rising profile is well-deserved.

See photos from the whole evening below.