Odie Leigh’s Monday Bottleneck show was a glimpse into a secret ultimate fandom

October 1, 2024

Nick Spacek,

Odie Leigh // Photo by Nick Spacek

Odie Leigh w/ Valley James
The Bottleneck
Monday, Sept. 30

Sometimes, you get an email about a show you’d forgotten you expressed interest in, so you take a shower, grab your camera, and head out.

I wasn’t that familiar with either artist performing Monday night at the Bottleneck. Odie Leigh was one of those musicians I know I’ve heard, but can’t recall the context. A quick refresher on my phone during the half hour between opener Valley James’ and Leigh’s sets let me do a bit of a refresher course via Google, and it seemed that I’d gone into a dive in her tunes around the time “Crop Circles” made its appearance, and then, she and her band made their way onstage. We were off to the races.

Odie Leigh and her band are new-ish, but, as a front person, Leigh knows how to command a crowd. She had folks interacting and, obviously, singing along, because, goddamn, if every person other than me and a handful of accommodating parents didn’t know every word to every song. Watching the show felt as though I’d infiltrated a secret club, but they were totally willing to let me be a part of it as long I was cool about it.

As Leigh put it, regarding her new album, Carrier Pigeon, “Don’t gatekeep it.” Her songs are confessional, but in that very amazing way where specific personal experiences become universal and 200 people come out to join you on a sleepy Monday. Thanks for letting me be a little part of your world, everyone. It was lovely and I see a new vinyl purchase in my near future.

These songs are going to get regular spins in my household. I wanna be part of that crowd singing along to “Crop Circles” or “My Name on a T-Shirt” next time Leigh rolls through, because goodness, does it seem like it’s a great group to be a part of.

Valley James // Photo by Nick Spacek

Opener Valley James promised that she was gonna get sad after her first song, which was also sad, and she followed through. Performing solo with just her guitar as accompaniment, James’ voice was reminiscent of Cowboy Junkies’ Margo Timmins, loaded for bear with woe and, yes, sadness. It was lovely and the crowd was dead silent throughout, except for rapturous cheers after each song.

All photos by Nick Spacek:

Odie Leigh