In the last show of her 21-city U.S. tour, Indigo De Souza brought a mellow atmosphere to Brooklyn Bowl on Monday night. With her unique vocals and laid-back stage presence, De Souza’s intimate performance provided the perfect break in the end-of-semester homework grind.
“I’m really excited to see my dog,” De Souza said, commenting on her time on the road.
Opening De Souza’s show was Humbird, a three-person band from Minnesota that joined the tour starting on March 27. This folk-indie group delighted the crowd with tales of Midwestern life, performing hits like “Cornfields and Roadkill” and “Right On.” Humbird seemed to strike a chord with audience members from the same region. Lead singer Siri Undlin recalled her Midwestern roots before each song, even responding to Bob Dylan’s hit “Girl from the North Country” with a love letter to her home in “North Country Girl.”
In a surprising moment that captured my attention, Undlin paid tribute to the ongoing Israeli-Hamas conflict by dedicating a song to the people of Gaza. Inspired by Sinéad O’Connor’s “I Am Stretched on Your Grave,” Humbird’s performance of “Song for the Seeds” was a beautiful blend of Undlin’s soft melodies and tensions masterfully built by the bass and drums.
“I’m going to send this one up as a prayer for our friends in Gaza,” Undlin said.
Once it was her turn to take the stage, De Souza opened her show with “All of This Will End,” the title track off of her most recent album by the same name, released in 2023. Her stellar vocals filled the room as she balanced mellow tunes with her indie rock ‘n’ roll ones, bringing a compelling potent angst with every song regardless of the style.
An American-Brazilian singer-songwriter from Asheville, North Carolina, De Souza’s music has resonated with those who can relate to her expression of the intimate anxiety that comes with relationship challenges. De Souza performed hits like “Wasting Your Time” and “How I Get Myself Killed” with laments toward moments of disappointment in her past relationships. She even dedicated one of her new unreleased songs, “Shit Together,” to those in the crowd experiencing a breakup.
“Is anyone here going through a breakup? I am,” De Souza said. “This one is for everyone going through a breakup.”
De Souza has a small but steadily increasing following on social media, commonly being known online for her self-made music videos. At Brooklyn Bowl, she referenced her 2023 music video for her song “You Can Be Mean” in which she dresses up as her toxic ex-boyfriend. In the video description, De Souza explains that she wrote the song following her realization that she would no longer allow harmful behavior from others to impact her own life.
“I wrote this about a really bad man and being in a relationship with a really bad man,” De Souza said.
De Souza performed three new songs during her show in a short set that was about an hour long. Ending her show with hits “Younger & Dumber” and “Kill Me,” De Souza left a heavy feeling of intimate grief in the crowd as she left the stage. Although this was one of the shortest concerts I’ve attended at Brooklyn Bowl, Indigo De Souza packed power into every word, making it a lasting memorable experience.
