Concert Review: Say She She

February 1, 2023

On Monday, January 30th, Say She She, played in front of a packed — and vibrant(!) — room at World Cafe Live’s Lounge! The show, which is a part of their US and UK tour, is in support of their phenomenal debut album, Prism, from 2022.

Say She She is a Brooklyn-based, 7-piece band, fronted by 3 women, vocalists: Nya Gazelle Brown, Piya Malik, Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, steeped in the tradition of 60s and 70s Soul, Funk, and R&B musics. After the show, I reflected on the night and their set with a few thoughts that you can read below:

• General Thoughts

  • I came into this show relatively blind. In fact, I basically just found out about Say She She after Kevin recommended them late last year. And for good measure, I’d never seen a performance of theirs, online or otherwise before their show on the 30th. But let me tell you about the power of live performances: I left transformed and made anew! From the second Say She She started the night with Fortune Teller, they had control of the room, their voices were in sync, and the harmonies were tight. They kept that energy up for the entire night, too. They’re the consummate performers.

• Never Seen the Energy in the Lounge Like This

  • The show was initially slated to be held at Johnny Brenda’s — a concert venue in Fishtown — but ended up being moved to the Lounge at World Cafe Live (WCL). I was a bit bummed about this move at first, not because I don’t like WCL, but because The Lounge can be a bit stuffy, at least the times I’ve seen shows there. The Lounge has dinner tables set up and the room is divided by a railing. My impression is that the tables sort of communicate “chill vibes” but the artists often want something more engaging. That said, Say She She had that room rocking! From my experience, they accomplished a major feat.

• The Power of Vocal Groups

  • The cool thing about groups — vocal groups in particular — is that you get a range of voices and vocal styles. During In The Morning, the group starts with Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, Piya Malik, and Nya Gazelle Brown trading lines throughout the verses. Then, as the song progresses, and the refrain “I Surrender” begins, Nya Gazelle Brown took the lead, singing well into her upper register in a sort of way that, without hyperbole, was reminiscent of Minnie Ripperton or Cheryl Lynn. I think this song, more than any other that night, exemplified the type of variety you can get with vocal groups.

• The Band was Smoking

  • It should be noted that Say She She didn’t use any backing tracks for their show. For those that don’t know, backing tracks help fill out the live performances with additional instruments and vocal parts, and click tracks help the band keep time, both of these tracks typically run from a laptop one of the musicians can control. Given the style of music they’re doing — a sort of 60s/70s R&B style — this makes sense. The Motown Revue certainly didn’t have any of these modern accoutrements. That said, the band was made up of drums, bass, guitar, and keyboards (Fender Rhodes), with an auxiliary stacked on top of the Rhodes. The band was incredibly tight, never overplayed and offered whatever each song needed — they felt great!

• Merch

  • As it currently stands, artists make less money than ever before from music. Like, the songs themselves. As such, one of the few ways that artists can make money in music is by touring/concert sales and merchandise. With this in mind, Say She She had it going on! They had 3, different 45s for sale, vinyl pressings of their LP, Prism, tote bags, and t-shirts. I don’t think I’ve ever seen artists with 45s for sale at the show, but I thought their merch was a cool touch overall.