State Theatre Presents: The Sheila Divine w/ Lolabelle
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25day of show.
Doors at 7:00 pm | Music starts at 8:00 pm.
21+
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Aaron Perrino refuses to be beat. The Boston music scene veteran, whose musical endeavors go by The Sheila Divine, has spent decades confounding expectations. From breaking out with the college radio hit “Hum” on the esteemed Roadrunner Records, to achieving cult status in the unlikely Belgian indie rock market, to steadfastly putting out a towering catalog of instantly gripping and uncompromisingly honest songs.
Songs that deftly weave power-punching political criticism amongst mundane daily frustrations, and that expose purest grief alongside deepest love.
In this vein, The Sheila Divine’s upcoming sixth album, The Middle Ages (Trash Casual), is a deeply human document of everyday life, brought to reality at the hand of a songwriter who has spent his adult years transparently trying to make sense of the world. Across ten new tracks Perrino bares his soul and searches his heart in songs that navigate the wide gamut of lived experience: from the wrenching loss of his mother, through parental anxieties for his own children’s wellbeing, to the strains of congested city life, fractured relationships, and rage at what his nation has turned into.
While no stranger to confounding times, (the group’s career traverses the whiplashing political landscapes of Clinton, GW Bush, Obama, and Trump) the sounds on The Middle Ages are perhaps Perrino’s most dangerous and most urgent yet.
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Lolabelle is an indie-rock band from West Buxton, Maine.
In the summer of 2024 a group of neighbors met in their backyard and bonded over a shared love of 90s alt rock, bringing together an unlikely pairing of musicians: Kurt, a veteran of the touring scene who recorded with J Mascis/Dinosaur Jr, Mark Lanegan, Gobblehoof, among others; Gene, a music educator and saxophonist with feet in both the classical and jazz worlds; and Caroline, an ex-opera singer and late-in-life guitar player. The casual meetup quickly became a vehicle for Caroline's songwriting, and the trio would regularly sneak into the dusty unfinished basement of their apartment building to jam (don’t tell our ex-landlord!). With the addition of Stephen Bennett (of bands Robert Samantha and God’s Furniture) on lead guitar, the group hit the circuit and played increasingly-hyped shows in the greater Portland, ME area. With strong vocals and heavy hooks, Lolabelle’s music is both bittersweet and deeply visceral, cathartic and full of driving energy.
