thee sacred souls & thee heart tones

roadrunner | allston, ma

11.10.2024 | 8 pm

lineup: @theesacredsouls @theeheart_tones

THEE HEART TONES

it was a night for THEE books at the roadrunner, which also happens to be my least favorite venue to get to but one of my favorites for experiencing live music. there was a modest audience when the opener stepped out on stage, introducing themselves as thee heart tones. i’m not going to lie, i initially thought they were a band operating under thee sacred souls due to the name similarities – but they are completely separate artists! thee heart tones are a band all under the age of twenty(?!), led by jazmine alvarado who was destined to join the band after writing the song, don’t take me as a fool for the original members of the band. she was definitely the missing piece of the puzzle for their sound. 

the best way i can describe this band’s vibe is when you’re at a ethnic family gathering doing karaoke & your one cousin who is way more obviously talented at singing is on the mic. & i mean that in the most complimentary manner. they self-describe their music as, “chicano soul” but i’d say thee heart tones sing love soul ballads. jazmine, their lead singer, wore a blue spaghetti strap dress with a slit on her left leg & had her hair in a slick black bob. she did look a little nervous but absolutely shouldn’t have been.

her voice is quite literally angelic & every high note she hits, she hits with the perfect amount of vibrato. i can just tell when music is good because i can feel tremors go through my body that feel like pure ecstasy. i will say, i think someone did my girl dirty with her wardrobe because she had to constantly adjust her dress the entire show. around the mid-point of their set jazmine addressed the audience & said, “if you’re here with a special someone i want you to hold them tight to this song” before launching into when i met you off their debut album forever & ever which was released this past august. people in the audience & next to me scooted closer together to hold one another & sway to the music. as they wrapped up their set, jazmine serenaded the audience with her rendition of etta james’ i’d rather go blind which was met with cheers & phones turning on to record. before making their exit from the stage, jazmine introduced the band, giving lead guitarist, peter chagolla, an opportunity to hit a little solo. & man was he fingering that guitar like nobody’s business.. is that too much to say? well, just ignore that but listen to this last sentence.

thee heart tones are a band all under 20, with a brand new record with big crown records, & opening for thee sacred souls’ north america tour. that’s a band that has hit the soul scene with an unforgettable bang.

THEE SACRED SOULS

now, i had checked the night before the show & tickets for thee sacred souls were not sold out. but when i tell you the roadrunner was packed, it was PACKED. there were people standing wall to wall on the floor & up on the balcony which is where i was perched observing the crowd while waiting for the main act. there were genuinely too many casually dressed people, i mean, where were the hot 70s styled outfits?? i needed to see more bootcut jeans & leather jackets, personally speaking. on the floor, i watched my photographer high fiving the reviewer from WERS, calysa. all i have to say is, literally adorable. i loved seeing photographers support each other & the emerson community that came out to see thee sacred souls on a rainy sunday night.

the stage was set with four retro film studio lights backlighting thee sacred souls ensemble in warm, honey gold light. phones went up en masse to record the band’s entrance. the horn section, drummers, & guitarists filed out onto the stage & began playing a little interlude that introduced the two backup singers, followed by lead singer, josh lane who kicked off the show with lucid girl. i particularly enjoyed the use of bongos in the songs as it added another layer of rhythmic beats that made the music more engaging & interesting. to the audience’s shock, josh jumped down into the barricade to sing to fans face-to-face for his second song, will i see you again. i kid you not, my photographer ruby’s jaw DROPPED when he hopped down. i have come to the conclusion that josh really likes pointing. he spent most of his songs pointing at the audience. it really does feel like he’s pointing directly at you & looking you in the eye which created really beautiful moments of connection with fans. but that wasn’t as far as josh was going it take it last night. for the third song in his set, josh hopped the BARRICADE into the audience which parted like the sea to give him a stage in the crowd. he hopped the barricade one handed. the last time i saw an artist get this up close & personal with fans was genesis owusu at the sinclair last year. thee sacred souls truly wanted to let their fans know that they care about each & every one of them on a deep personal level. once back on the stage, he polled how many people in the audience were in love, whether it be a new budding romance or a “grueling 30 years of love.” the results came in immediately & josh announced it was about 52 point 8 percent of the audience. it was sickening, so many people in love. but i don’t actually mean that. i fear i may be a little bitter… but i promise, so happy for everybody in the audience. i wish i could time travel myself & this concert to valentine’s day the next time i have a special someone.

i think i spent half of the concert playing where’s waldo trying to spot josh in the crowd. the backup singers, astyn turrentine & viane escobar, held the fort down onstage with little choreographed dances to the songs. josh surprised the audience with the unreleased song, we don’t have to be alone, that was not on their latest record, got a story to tell, that was released in october of this year. gosh, we are getting so spoiled with album releases this fall. josh made sure to shoutout all the berklee students in the audience who are the future of artists which was met with a lot of whoops. we <3 you @berkleecollege artists!!

towards the end of the set, josh addressed the crowd with inspiring messages. he said, “we are blessed to be alive with breath in our lungs. take a breath with me. breathe in… & out.” the crowd eagerly followed his direction, taking a moment to be together in that space as a collective family. “that’s a blessing y’all”. we really do forget to be in the moment sometimes & grateful that we can experience all that this world has to offer. but i won’t get too philosophical.

the performance was so good that i saw one of the audio techs recording from the light & sound booth as well as a stage tech on stage left DANCING in the wings. if i could describe thee sacred souls’ performance that night, it was giving high school prom band in the 80s but if the band was actually good. but don’t take that too seriously, i didn’t even go to my high school prom. their music itself makes me want to be 80 years old putting one of their records on to dance with the love of my life in the living room. okay, i’m going to go cry in the corner of my room now.

all jokes aside, THEE soul was in boston last night.

a HUGE thank you to my former intern coordinator & friend lauren azvedo @ red light management as well as thee sacred souls management team.