The former Allston resident gives their new album a spin at ICA Boston on Friday, 8 December 2023.

Justine Bowe does triple duty as backup vocalist, live auctioneer, and Photocomfort in the opening slot.

It’s easier to use the bathrooms on the first floor rather than waiting in line on the third.

The ICA Boston has a music series.

See, here’s a screenshot of the music series page at the website. Not much action here, but the emcee at the Anjimile gig promised an upcoming gig by Okay Kaya. Maybe in January?

Let’s take them at their word. It’s hard to keep your website updated! A lot of work.

And you can imagine that the music series, however lovely, is not central to the core mission at the museum.

What is the mission anyway? That IS at the website:

“The Institute of Contemporary Art strives to share the pleasures of reflection, inspiration, provocation, and imagination that contemporary art offers through public access to art, artists, and the creative process.”

Well, that mission remains laudably broad, generalized, expansive. There must be many boring and slightly contentious board meetings held each year to connect that mission to project funding. Who can say for sure which art, artists, or creative processes deserve the spotlight?

What can be said for sure is that the ICA Boston has a stunning performance space extending from the second to third floor. It’s a kind of modernist amphitheater with a two-story, glass backdrop that lets homeless people stare at you while you gaze upon the glorious harborview.

Truly, an architectural marvel and treasure among local venues.

Photocomfort

While the venue prizes its modernist grandeur, it can be a little cold and airy for smaller, more intimate productions.

Justine Bowe, who performs under the moniker Photocomfort, tried to cozy up the joint by inviting a raft of the crosslegged faithful to abandon their seats and grab a piece of the floor in front of her synthesizer.

It wasn’t destined to be the kind of set that required the full gamut of the stage, with Bowe trading between keyboard and harp to deliver ornate pop compositions.

Extra points for showmanship and entrepreneurial spirit: Bowe conducted a live auction midset to offload one of her paintings for a cool $50.

Anjimile

It was a homecoming of sorts for Anjimile, who attended college in the area and came of age in the clubs and bars, stages and salons, libraries and dining halls animated by the student body across Boston and beyond.

Homecoming gigs can be bittersweet sometimes. It seemed like the artist was at the edge of tears a few times throughout their set. But the easy stage banter between the artist and familiar faces in the crowd let you know that if any tears were shed, it was between friends.

Anjimile cycled through different sounds and stagings throughout the set. With the help of two other vocalists at their right and left (including past collaborator Justine Bowe), the artist strummed an acoustic through a vocals-driven piece to open.

Guitar, synth, and drums were introduced afterwards, giving the ensemble a fiercer bite. There was more rock n roll capability with this lineup, though the compositions in the middle part of the set were still steered by the art-folk sensibility. 

Shout out to the guitarist’s method. He was using some sort of strange implement – possibly an Ebow? – to produce strange atmospheric sounds. Combined with the jazzy drumming, the ghostly guitar sounds lifted Anjimile’s compositions out of the texture world of conventional rock n roll even as they remained beholden to the conventional instruments of that world.

By the end of the set, rock n roll convention won out. The pair of backup vocalists departed, leaving a power psych rock trio. Did you know that Anjimile can wail? Most excellent. It’s not something that you’re going to hear much of on their recent album. But the trio enjoyed themselves, chasing white rabbits down the fretboard. So much so that you have to imagine this new, louder, rawking Anjimile is going to show up on the next album.

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