LIVE REVIEW: Michelle Branch, Josie Edwards (11.04.26)
I knew I was close to Roadrunner last Wednesday night when I joined a flurry of millennial women like me. All in jeans, sweaters, no flashiness in sight, just pure happiness as the crowd flocked to fellow millennial queen Michelle Branch‘s sold-out show. Branch brought the flashiness for all of us with a sparkly blue guitar, clad in a black open-back halter top and a leather skirt, and the room was living for it. But before I get ahead of myself, the night was opened by just as rock-and-roll artist Josie Edwards. I’m sure it’s not an easy task to look out on a packed room, Roadrunner tapping out at 3,500, and also to open for Michelle Branch.
But with ease, Edwards quickly charmed the room with her rock and roll elegance. An early standout to me was the track “Good Girls,” coming second into the set. And from that moment, the crowd truly started warming up to the set and grooving their way through. The set hit a crescendo with the mesmerizing “The Poet and Her Vice (Happy Ending),” as Edwards continued to prove why she was a perfect choice to open for Branch. Pockets of the crowd seemed to know the songs and the lyrics and were singing along as the set progressed, starting seemingly with the latter-mentioned track. “New House” was another standout, definitely getting more of a country twinge that we hadn’t yet really seen in the set; we love a balanced woman. Giving balance, Edwards ended her short but delightful set with “Chemical Light,” adding a bit of, and only in a great way, Rachel Platten energy.
Edwards also hails currently from Nashville, originally from Indiana, making sense why this pair came together for several dates. Edwards has experience touring with everyone from Twenty One Pilots to Gang of Youth to BBno$, and that wide range of artists makes sense considering you definitely can’t put Edwards into a box.
As Edwards left the stage, those in the room didn’t have to wait long for Branch and her band to make it to the stage. They went on at a very prompt 9 pm, we love a professional, and the room was hers’ from the second she hit the stage. Yells of “Michelle!” were echoed around the room as Branch walked out and lifted her drink up in a greeting to the crowd. The Michelle cheers never stopped throughout the perfectly finished by 10:30 pm set, with people saying, “Michelle, can you see me?” and whoops throughout the whole set. Branch opened her performance with “Drop in the Ocean,” and it was on from there. One of her massive hits, “Breathe,” came surprisingly early in the set to the glee of the crowd and post track, came Branch’s first interaction with the crowd. Well, the first verbal interaction, as she was all smiles from the second song on, as were all her bandmates. Saying, “Boston, I’m so happy to see you.” Then talking about how she hadn’t been feeling that great, but feeling better that day, went, “I guess all I needed was to see you guys.” Just after this, Branch went right into the just as loved by fans, “You Set Me Free”, and I got to see everyone moving in the crowd but also the two women bartending the bar nearest me singing and dancing together behind the bar without a care in the world. Honestly, and I’ve been told by people who work there that you bid on shifts, it’s not surprising at all that there was maybe one male bartender for every five women bartenders, and the guys were in a bar that doesn’t have a view of the stage. I’m sure those spots in the main room got picked up real quick when it came to Michelle Branch coming to town.
As well as playing a lot of old stuff, Branch also sprinkled in several new moments throughout the night, speaking of a new record to come in 2027. The first hint of new music came with “With Every Heart Beat.” Included as well was a cheeky cover of “2 Becomes 1”, à la Spice Girls. Branch said she doesn’t like doing covers often, but she might try one she had been wanting to do, and the crowd, of course, ate it up. All of her past musical incarnations were present in the set, be it her hit with Santana, “Game of Love,” and of course for the country bumpkins (again, try putting women in a box you can’t), her massive hit “Leave the Pieces” from her time with The Wreckers.
At this point in the set, facing her sold-out crowd, and already returning to the area in March, Branch talked about how a lot of artists say the best is behind you, and how she doesn’t feel that way at all. Branch has been making music since she was a teenager, when “Everywhere” dropped, and if Wednesday’s crowd had anything to say for it, Branch is making moves bigger than ever. Prefacing the latter, saying simply, “I was in a country band,” the room pretty much exploded from this point on. From then on, the crowd became part of the performance, with few exceptions, as Branch barreled through new tracks and massive hits. With “Goodbye To You,” “All You Wanted,” and immediately as “All You Wanted” ended, hopping right into just as big, teased-out “Are You Happy Now,” closing out the main set.
Just a moment later, the band returned to the stage with Branch talking about encores, saying she really doesn’t like them, “Because you guys know I’m not going to leave without playing ‘Everywhere.” I feel like it’s been a trend lately to just play through and be like deuces, Branch even saying we should put an end on them. But that encore still went on, with Branch first saying, “I’ve been trying to read that sign all night,” indicating with a head nod to a security guard to grab the sign from the fan in question. Branch took a moment reading it to herself, looking up at the fan and hugging it to her heart, before jumping into her two-song encore. The interaction all night clearly came so naturally between Branch and the room, with natural smiles throughout, clearly in a non-performative manner, and the room scream-singing practically every word to many of the tracks.
Branch kicked off her encore with the title track off her 2017 album, “Hopeless Romantic.” And post-track, she went, “This one is for you guys,” before, of course, jumping into her debut hit, “Everywhere.” A hit that came out when many in the room, me in particular, were the ripe age of 13,14, and seeing a fellow woman be all over the airwaves with “Everywhere”. I chatted with Branch years ago, and when we talked about that, I was 23 at the time of the interview, and she was like, “How old do you think I am?” and, when asked, responded, 27. She’s truly one of the many who filled the room Wednesday night, a room that honestly was only millennial women and gay men; we love a safe space. One that brought me back to the feeling of a performance by The Veronicas I went to at Royale on a Sunday night back in 2024. The room that Michelle Branch actually originally was booked for, but was quickly moved to a room almost four times the capacity. It was a room, too, that brought together a group of women who, while we are sure to be loyal to our alt girl roots, as could be seen at this very sold-out show, were also girls who were excited to see that bands like The Menzingers were coming to the venue later this month.
Michelle Branch, Hilary Duff, Avril Lavigne- the list goes on and on- really raised a community of women that still come out to see a show on a Wednesday. One who loves someone like Michelle but also could find herself at a dive bar show. It also culminated in the slow surge of people leaving the venue to the tune of “I Love You Always Forever,” by Donna Lewis (but, to be honest, it’s also a huge song for fans of the To All the Boys I Loved Before trilogy). A group singalong commenced when the first chorus hit, with girls serenading each other as we left the venue. To be a woman is a hard task, but the recent wave of women being elected to power just the night before, and having moments like Wednesday’s shows, makes it all worth it.
