Molly Nilsson has a 20/20 vision to share with us

Yours truly was fortunate enough to have seen Molly Nilsson twice in the sleepy mountain hamlet I call home back in 2012 and 2013. In fact, she had a gig on the night of my birthday in 2013; a delightful present. I thought I was going to see her at the last Big Ears Festival we attended in 2016, but work visa hassles by the increasingly backward USA [a festering problem for years prior to the current regime] scuttled that notion! I’ve been on a Molly Nilsson kick lately and when I went to her website in a presumably vain search for any tour dates nearby, I was pleasantly astonished to see that against all odds, she has not forgotten about Asheville. Or the rest of the Southeast.

Her latest [8th] album arrived three weeks ago and she’s already looking forward to the promise of 2020. I’ve not heard her last two albums, “Zenith” and “Imaginations” since I have always bought her CDs at the merch table, and it’s getting well nigh impossible to buy the shiny silver discs these days. But I’m highly enamored of her juxtaposition of warmly soft focus synthpop with her understated vocals. She has a knack for incisive lyrical phrases and cutting to the emotional heart of the matter with knowing insight.

“The power of love
Versus the love of power” – “Power Ballad”

Her shows are simple and straightforward as she just plugs in her laptop and sings after a 30 second soundcheck. I’m thrilled to see that she’s playing The Mothlight, my current favorite club. She’s still got two dates left on her West Coast tour, and then some dates in Europe before heading back to the East US in March. I’m amazed to see that she will be playing Will’s Pub in Orlando; where I saw many a great show back in the 90s when we still lived there. I would have thought that as her legend has grown that Ms. Nilsson would be playing larger venues but she’s doing things her way and on her terms. Thank goodness. It makes for a better world that way. If she’s in earshot, by all means do partake!

2018 | US West Coast/Europe

27 Nov. | San Francisco, CA | The Chapel
30 Nov. | Los Angeles, CA | Zebulon
04 Dec. | München, Germany | Muffatwerk
06 Dec. | Leipzig, Germany | UT Connewitz
10 Dec. | Hamburg, Germany | Hafenklang

2019 |  Europe/US East Coast

24 Jan. | Madrid, Spain | Sala Caracol
06 Feb. | London | Moth Club
08 Feb. | Brighton | Hope + Ruin
03 Mar. | Orlando, FL | Will’s Pub
05 Mar. | Athens, GA | Caledonia
06 Mar. | Atlanta, GA | 529
07 Mar. | Asheville, NC | The Mothlight
08 Mar. | Raleigh, NC | Wicked Witch
10 Mar. | Washington, DC | Union Stage
12 Mar. | Philadelphia, PA | PhiMoca
13 Mar. | Brooklyn, NY | Elswewhere Hall

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