Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

Picture it: Camden, NJ, 2024. I was sitting in a rusty lawn chair perched atop an embankment in Wiggins Park, reading a book, feeling like I was drowning in an ocean of pedal steel guitar at the XPoNential Music Festival (it was a little heavy-handed that year). The band playing next on the Marina Stage, Brigitte Calls Me Baby, was one I hadn't heard of before, but from the moment they launched into the first notes of their set, I was sold.

"Holy shit," I said to my father.

I tossed my book onto the fleece blanket, grabbed my beer, and walked over to the stage, beckoned by a sound that was familiar, yet totally different.

Their truncated set at Wiggins Park wasn't enough, so when I saw the Chicagoans were returning to Philly in support of their most recent LP, March's Irreversible, I knew I had to see them in their full glory.

So, what is it that makes Brigitte Calls Me Baby so unique? Where do I begin... for one, their sound is steeped in New Wave influence — reminiscent of acts like The Smiths and The Cure — with an image to match. From the music to the styling, the band feels like a love note to the heyday of 1980s New Wave, but never in a way that reads as shtick. Sweeping synths and goosebump-inducing guitar riffs frame lead singer Wes Leavins’ rich, elastic voice, creating a sound that feels strikingly different from anything else you hear in 2026.

Warming the audience up was support act SKORTS from New York City, and if I had to summarize their set in one (run-on) sentence, I would tell you that I can count how many times I've watched a band play live and thought, "this band could have easily slid into a bill at CBGB with Blondie, Talking Heads, and Patti Smith Group, yet somehow their sound is so fresh and new" on one hand, because I've only had that thought once, and it was midway through SKORTS' set on Tuesday.

When lead vocalist and guitarist Alli Walls relocated from Denver to New York City in 2021, she called the move her “big romantic gesture to music” — which, frankly, feels like the perfect origin story for SKORTS. Formed through pure human connection — Walls met lead guitarist Char Smith at a guitar shop shortly after moving to New York, then later struck up a conversation with bassist Emma Welch outside a bar. With Max Berdik rounding out the lineup on drums, SKORTS delivers a kind of duality I’ve rarely seen live — gritty and loud, yet polished and melodic. They have the scrappy energy of a band built in sweaty rock clubs, but the sound and presence to fill an arena tomorrow. Much like how I felt the first time I saw Brigitte Calls Me Baby perform, I look forward to the day I get to see a full SKORTS set.

At almost exactly 9 p.m., the house lights dimmed and the curtain along the back wall of The Foundry glowed a deep cerulean, echoing the wistful tone that runs through so many of Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s songs. Their music isn’t necessarily “sad,” but there’s a deep introspection in many of their lyrics — the kind that, for lack of a better phrase, lends itself to a deep shade of blue. One by one, guitarists Jack Fluegel and David Rosendahl, bassist Devin Wessels, and drummer Jeremy Benshish walked onto the stage, followed by Leavins, whose trademark pompadour-like hairstyle was the final piece in bringing the band’s 1980s fantasy to life.

Leavins grabbed hold of his mic stand, and the set began with “Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction,” a track from Irreversible. I try not to single out one member of a band over the others, but Leavins is such a dynamic frontperson that I can’t complete this recap without giving him his flowers. He possesses a quiet swagger — reserved yet magnetic — with piercing blue eyes that seem to carry the emotion in every note to the very back of the room. When he speaks, there’s a slight Texas lilt in his voice, giving him the air of a modern-day alternative Elvis Presley.

The hourlong set was a combination of tracks from their recent release and their debut album, 2024's The Future Is Our Way Out–plus an excellently-executed cover of The Strokes' "Is This It." If the tracks from Irreversible are harbinger of what is to come for Brigitte Calls Me Baby, I'm positive of two things: 1. This band will never play a room as small as The Foundry again, and 2. I'm all in to follow their ride to the top.

PHOTOS

SKORTS

Brigitte Calls Me Baby