Exit/In’s location makes it one of my favorite venues in Nashville — it’s precisely an 8-minute walk from campus. When I heard the duo Tommy Lefroy was performing there, I knew I had no excuse to miss their show.
Wilby was the first opener for Tommy Lefroy and, although I had not listened to her music before coming to the concert, I can confidently say I will be adding her songs to my playlists. “i got what i asked for” and “happiest woman” were my favorites because they beautifully displayed her vocal capabilities.
Hailey Blais was the second opener of the night. Her relaxing performance consisted of her and a band member accompanying her on guitar and vocals sitting center stage. Blais played songs from a new album she told the crowd was released a month ago called “Wisecrack.” The person next to me in the crowd told me she came specifically to see Blais.
After performing “Concrete,” one of the audience members shouted out to ask Blais what the song was called.
“Lemme watch you download it on Spotify,” Blais joked with the audience member after sharing the title.
Between the opener and the main act, I was pleasantly surprised to see a Vanderbilt student I knew standing behind me. Nelly Zerbib, a huge Tommy Lefroy fan and a junior at Vanderbilt, told me to listen to the lyrics carefully because they are so relatable and the band expresses their thoughts beautifully.
After a few minutes, Tommy Lefroy walked on stage. They opened with “Worst Case Kid,” and several audience members sang along. Soon after, they introduced themselves as Wynter Bethel and Tessa Mouzourakis. Bethel is from Michigan and Mouzourakis is from Canada, but they met after moving to Nashville and created their band soon after doing so.
Bethel introduced the pair’s next song, “Vampires,” by stating it was written about how someone in Nashville saved her life. Tommy Lefroy insightfully explained their state of mind at the time of writing each song before playing it.
“Jericho Beach” was a song I immediately recognized as one of their top hits. Several audience members sang along as well. Between songs, Tommy Lefroy continued to share more about how their creative process involved both joint and independent songwriting. Bethel reminisced about writing songs such as “Trashfire” in Nashville while driving on Wedgewood.
After Tommy Lefroy finished their set and exited the stage, the audience cheered for the duo to come back and play one more song. They swiftly returned to the spotlight.
“How about two more?” Bethel asked as the audience erupted with cheers.
The duo closed out their performance with their hit, “Dog Eat Dog,” a song about feminism. Most audience members around me sang along, and their voices filled Exit/In.
After the concert, to my surprise, I learned that several of my friends were fans of Tommy Lefroy’s music. I hope to bring them along the next time Tommy Lefroy performs in Nashville. Until then, I will have “Dog Eat Dog” on repeat.
