Smut at the Vic on Wednesday night, and the first time I've stood in front of them in a little over two years. Of every band I've shot, only one other artist has more frames than Smut in my catalog.
The months between shows stacked up faster than I was keeping count, their touring and my own calendar never syncing up.
They were the first band I shot after covid. Back then they'd only just moved up from Cincinnati, barely settled in.
Somewhere in the stretch since I last saw them, a couple of albums deep now, they'd filled their set with newer songs I was getting to know, and I spent a good chunk of the night catching up.
What's stayed is the arc of a Smut set, the shape it's kept since the beginning. It starts off slow and shoegaze-heavy, measured and jangly, Tay's voice sitting sweet and clear just above the haze. Then somewhere in the back half it turns. That same voice opens up with a force the early songs kept hidden. It used to catch me off guard every time, and now it's the exact moment I spend the whole set waiting on, camera up, hoping I'm ready for it.
I'll admit an old favorite of mine has slipped off the setlist. I've made peace with its absence, mostly because whatever fills that spot tends to show up somewhere I never see coming. I didn't know their set half as well as I thought I did, and I'm ready for the next one already, wondering how far ahead of me they'll be by then ;(