Caroline Rose nails state trivia, lives dream of alien abduction at sold-out recordBar revival

Caroline Rose at recordBar. // Photo by Brock Wilbur

Caroline Rose
with support from Ian Sweet
recordBar
Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Last night, Caroline Rose blew through town, selling out recordBar and living out their dream of a Sims-style alien kidnapping as their overwhelmingly genuine set ended with an all-audience crowd-surf into the ether.

The evening kicked off with Ian Sweet (Jilian Medford) and her two bandmates taking the stage for the opening set.

They also (partially) debuted a cover of Broken Social Scene’s “Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl” that’ll be released as a single in early May. On their way out, the band announced they’d only be at the merch table for a partial chunk of Caroline Rose’s set, as they needed to get a jump start on the drive to the next venue. A killer, succinct set that guaranteed we’ll be back out to see them next time through town.

Caroline Rose took the stage just after 9 p.m. and absolutely flattened the room, under what hit as waves of a wildly different performer. The set could be broken down into three segments, with the first being a loose indie folk singalong where the bleak and joyful blend with the catharsis of a room shouting back about shared traumas.

Caroline Rose at recordBar. // Photo by Brock Wilbur

The show then swung sharply in the direction of The Art of Forgetting‘s bleak electronic wastelands of glitches and glory, before turning on another dime to the blissed-out joy of tracks like “Jeannie Becomes a Mom.” Rose was joined by a bassist, a drummer, and what could best be described as a “pyramid of textures” as two musicians flanked the singer, with row after row of synths and extra guitars.

Between songs, the singer asked why Kansas City wasn’t in Kansas, and if we were trying to trick them to fuck with them. Later, they confessed that they still fantasize about being abducted by aliens, as it happened to their character in the game The Sims, and what a comfort a Sims-style kidnapping to the stars would feel like amid all of “this.” As the set peaked, Rose took off for the recordBar’s bar, standing on it and eventually being carried away into the night on a crowdsurf that somehow wound back up at the stage.

Caroline Rose at recordBar. // Photo by Brock Wilbur

A wildly memorable evening for an untethered performer who feels on the precipice of a new album that ties all these musical identities together in one well-earned version of themselves. If you can catch another stop on this tour, we insist you do.

Caroline Rose Setlist:

Stockholm Syndrome
Tell Me What You Want
Miami
Love Song for Myself
Everywhere I Go I Bring the Rain
The Doldrums
Getting to Me
More of the Same
Jeannie Becomes a Mom
Feel the Way I Want
Do You Think We’ll Last Forever?
Talk
Bikini
Money
Cry!
I Took a Ride
Where Do I Go From Here?

Caroline Rose at recordBar. // Photo by Brock Wilbur

Caroline Rose at recordBar. // Photo by Brock Wilbur

Ian Sweet Setlist:

Drink the Lake
f*ckthat
Your Spit
Clean
FIGHT
Emergency Contact
#23
Smoking Again
Sword