RECAP: Plush/Anacortez/Deveria @ Empire Live – 5/4/24 -By Vito Ciccarelli

Words By: By Vito Ciccarelli

Photo By: Tim Reidy

There’s plenty of bands out there who try to be, aspire to be, and want to be. From what I saw on the stage at Empire Live on 5/4, PLUSH checks all the boxes – because they are!

One of the things I always look for when checking out a band, is whether they can replicate what they record, when playing live. PLUSH checks that box as well, with a few exclamation points!!! This group of young women just took the stage by storm, whipping the large crowd into a frenzy, with a flurry of panache, and precision. They hit hard with an, ‘In Your Face’ explosion, showcasing their immense talents.

Having produced shows by lead singer Moriah Formica in the past, I’ve always thought the world of her combination skill set of writing, recording, & performing. But this was quite frankly, higher level stuff happening on that stage. I heard many things as I watched, including a voice that has always, ‘soared’, but is now maturing, and getting stronger. Her voice just grabs you to the point where you can only say, WOW! Mo writes from the heart, sharing her deep feelings in song. The positive development of her skill set is evident in the groups new single, ‘Find the Beautiful’, a song that just mesmerizes you, & makes you really pay attention. Mo has always written from the heart, & hopefully will continue on this path. What really caught my attention, was the progression of her playing, taking on more leads, playing off of lead guitarist, Bella Perron like they’ve been together for many years.

Bella was interesting to watch. What I loved most about her playing, is that unlike so many other young guitarists, Bella plays exactly what’s needed, and doesn’t play way too many notes. She’s pure kinetic energy on stage, playfully interacting with Moriah, & bassist Ashley Suppa, much to the delight of their crowd. Ashley provided some spot-on harmonies for Mo’s vocals, all the while just laying down the perfect groove, while still hitting it hard. Her feel for the music, is something that can’t be taught. You’re either born with that talent, or you’re not. Faith Powell, is a throwback, ‘in the pocket’ percussionist, that doesn’t seem to have that, ‘I just want to bang the drum all day’ mentality that you see from so many other young drummers. She seems content to provide her part of the rhythm section, meshing seamlessly with bassist Suppa, displaying her HUGE talents, while not overpowering the rest of the band. It was really cool to see so many of their fans, singing along with mostly every tune, which shows me that people are paying attention. This is an act that has the full potential to hit it big, and I for one will be pulling for them to get to the top of the plateau.

Opening act Deveria, set the tone for the evening, by hitting it hard coming out of the shoot. They featured some masterful guitar work by Roman Singleton & Christian Bivona, and some hard hitting vocals from Chuck Woodard. Another local, Anacortez played an extremely interesting set before PLUSH, which was highlighted by the vocals, of the very talented, Jessie Whitney. You can see some big things happening down the road for this young performer.