MUSIC Indigo Girls shine in concert

Playing to a packed house at the House of Blues Dec. 7, Indigo Girls—along with special guests Chely Wright, Shawn Mullins, Julie Wolf, Matt Combs, Jim Brock, Victor Krauss and Alison Brown—combined holiday music with some of their best songs to create a warm and intimate environment for everyone who attended.

The concert (which lasted just more than two hours) was in two parts; the songwriters set was first and, after a brief break in the middle, they moved onto songs from Indigo Girls first holiday album, Holly Happy Days. During the songwriters’ set Mullins, Wright and Wolf showed off their talents with Mullins’ “Beautiful Wreck” up first, with his intense sound going strong. Then the mood shifted when Wright shared her story of coming out before performing a soulful rendition of “Broken,” from her latest album, Lifted off the Ground.

Wolf, on her accordion, was featured next as Indigo Girls sang another one of their songs. That was just the beginning of the songwriters set with Mullins’ second offering ‘Light You Up’ from his latest album. Then Wright, with raw emotion, belted out “Like Me” (which she has named her latest organization). After Wright was finished Indigo Girls and Wolfe, showing off more of her accordion skills, came back to sing “Gone Again” as the crowd continued to cheer. Then Mullins put some rock into the night with his song, “Lullaby,” that got everyone in the mood to dance. Finishing out the songwriters set Wright shared a funny song that she hasn’t included in her latest album. It’s called “Something Positive and Hopeful,” which was her clever way of saying goodbye to her old record label when they criticized her most recent songs for being too dark. The crowd started to laugh in response to her tongue-in-cheek lyrics; when she was finished the audience burst out in thunderous applause. Then finishing out the songwriters set everyone came onstage and sang “Get out the Map” before taking a brief break.

When the break was over, Indigo Girls treated the audience to all but one of the songs from their new holiday album. First up was “I Feel the Christmas Spirit” and then Wright came back to the stage to share her song “It Really is (A Wonderful Life).” Then the fiddles came out so Indigo Girls could showcase their version of “O Holy Night” before they switched to one of the songs they wrote in 95-degree heat called “Your Holiday Song.” Then they sang a soulful rendition of “I’ll be Home for Christmas.”

As an added surprise Wright came back onstage and sang a twangy version of “Let it Snow” as the band played before sharing her original holiday song “Santa Will Find You” which she wrote for her nieces and nephews years ago and had never performed live which was evident when she had trouble remembering the words. She made a joke about it but recovered and finished without anymore pauses. Then Indigo Girls took to the stage again and picked up where they left off singing “Mistletoe,” which was another one of their original songs. Then they sang “Peace Child,” “The Wonder Song” (which was their final original offering) and “In the Bleak Midwinter” (a favorite of both of their mothers). Taking another break from their album, Mullins took the stage again to share his versions of “So this is Christmas” and “Merry Christmas.” Then Indigo Girls, with all the artists onstage, finished the evening with “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “Happy Joyous Hanukkah”. After they left the stage the audience kept clapping so in the true spirit of the holidays they came back for an encore.

The added touch of sharing stories about the songs they wrote only contributed to the intimacy of the concert. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers couldn’t stop singing the praises of their guest performers, who were clearly having a great time. This was even more evident during the encore performances of “Kid Fears” featuring Mullins and their anthem, “Closer to Fine,” that featured solos by Mullins and Wolfe as Wright, the rest of the band and the audience sang along in the background, lending the fan favorite a unique sound. What made the night special was hearing everyone’s distinct singing voices and musical talents. They didn’t need any bells and whistles, just microphones and instruments to create a cacophony of sounds ranging from soulful to joyous melodies to launch concertgoers into the holiday season.