Review: The Linda Lindas + Secret Shame at The Orange Peel
Walking into The Orange Peel on a Tuesday night the week school started, I didn't expect to see so many kids sprinkled throughout the crowd. Kudos to the parents that got up the next morning at the crack of dawn to get their little single-digit punk rockers to school.
The Aug. 27 show opened with Asheville-based Secret Shame, a dark and moody, post-punk foursome. Their songs were maybe a touch too dark for the youngest of concert goers. However, for all the young adults who are still clawing their way to adulthood — and those of us already there — frontwoman Lena’s beautifully expressive lyrics about the difficulties of being alive echoed through the room and moved everyone who listened..
The Linda Lindas then put on a performance worthy of much bigger stages, surprising no one who’s been paying attention to their meteoric rise. After all, they’ve been touring with ’90s legends Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, and Rancid since July. Between their last stop in Charlotte and the next in Atlanta, they had one night off and, like the true rockstars they are, headlined their own show instead of taking a break.
The quartet quite literally bounced on the stage, pulling the crowd from dreamy introspection to wide open, high-energy punk and garage rock, including songs about growing up, injustice, racism and, of course, cats. These teens put on a show that only seasoned performers should be able to accomplish. They have ALL the energy. They have ALL the style. They have ALL the moves. And they made us have ALL the fun. They also threw in a few covers for us over-40s in the crowd, including The Muffs’ "Big Mouth" and Talking Heads’ "Found a Job," then ended with the song that launched them into our worlds way back in 2021, "Racist, Sexist Boy."
I'll be honest: I don't always stay until the end of shows when I'm working. I show up, I grab what I need with my camera, and sometimes I bounce. This time, not only did I stay until the end but I stayed for The Linda Lindas’ encore — and I bought a T-shirt.
These kids are brilliant and hit all the right notes for me. I'm really looking forward to watching them grow as performers and musicians and felt honored to be able to photograph them for their first time at the legendary Orange Peel.
(Photos by Heather Burditt)
Secret Shame
