Touring in celebration of his first full length release, Soil, Serpentwithfeet came out to Great Scott last week with Lee Mo for an intimate night of soulful singing. The two touring acts were alike in that they were both solo singers, but each showcased a unique style in their respective performances. Lee Mo’s opening set began with the singer alone on stage, positioned front and center, with only a microphone for company. Overall, Mo’s vocal performance was stunning and soulful from end to end, singing over smooth instrumentals and spending a brief amount of time in front of a keyboard.

Serpentwithfeet’s headlining performance brought the crowd together with the sort of collective effervescence usually only found in churches. When he wasn’t singing over an instrumental performance, Serpentwithfeet lead the audience through call and response sections of stripped down versions of songs, playing out the chord progressions softly on piano, signaling when fans should come in with the refrains. There was also a good amount of time spent monologuing on stage, which was sometimes lighthearted, and other times delved into self reflection and emotions that matched the themes of the album. Another highlight was when Serpentwithfeet brought out stack of books, all written by female black poets who he credited with having inspired much of the writing on Soil. After sharing an excerpt from Toni Morisson’s, Jazz, he night ended with a stripped down version of Serpentwithfeet’s emotional single “Bless Your Heart.”

See below for photos from the show: