Handmade Moments at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
Opening for the rescheduled Jack Johnson performance in Camden, New Jersey, Handmade Moments introduced themselves with a tuba and soul.
When you walk into the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion (formerly known as the BB&T Pavilion), it feels like you’re stepping onto a midway at the fair. A series of booths are semi-randomly placed on a walkway, shelling out $22 spiked lemonades and (devastatingly) lukewarm beers . Concert goers mosey around drinking frozen beverages out of silly cups with long straws. We’re all trying to combat the evening’s humid heat, which really makes me feel for the crowd sprawled out on the Pavilion’s lawn. One day, I’ll have to return to the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion because I’m convinced the angle of the lawn is not steep enough to give the lawn crowd much of a view. But I love the option to picnic.
Maybe this entrance felt a little more carnivalistic because of the music coming from the loudspeakers. There was a tuba bumping along to a jazzy woman’s voice, which reminded me of Veggie Tales in a way. When the song ended, the apparent tuba player paused the music to try some stand up. “In light of recent events,” he started…and ended with a joke about the tuba being the best birth control a guy could get in college.
So, moving on……..
This was my first introduction to the opening band Handmade Moments, a duo comprised of Anna Moss and Joel Ludford. The band started somewhere in the Ozarks of Arkansas. It doesn’t surprise me that a place culturally considered so barren would have a thriving music scene. Utah is actually an amazing place for the arts.
Handmade Moments has a sound that is eclectic and hard to define. On my music platform of choice, they are classified as “alternative folk.” In other reports, they are envisioned as some kind of medley, with influences of “jazz, old-time country, blues, soul, hip-hop, rock…”
I know for a fact that I like this woman’s voice. It’s powerfully low-key, in a way that’s more groovy than a traditional country drawl. Maybe it’s the low register of her alto pitch, which is richened with a rumbling of smooth jazz, that makes it so satisfying. Anna Moss often accompanies herself on guitar, which brightens the set with a sweet folk sound. I tried thinking where someone could dance to this kind of music. My best recommendation would be a restored barn that scaled itself upwards with mason jar cocktails and twinkling mood lights. It’s probably a wedding. Which is fitting because the name Handmade Moments does sound like the title of a wedding band.
Opening for Jack Johnson’s rescheduled performance, Handmade Moments played a pleasant set of originals and covers. The duo traded off playing guitar and addressing the crowd with their nice southern charm. Anna wore a shirt that read “End The Wars.” And I’d be remissed if I didn’t compliment her freestyled hair. Like their sound, the band’s styling was comfortable and not overdone. Joel fit in with the crowd wearing a Hawaiian-floraled shirt.
Anna and Joel are multi-talented with instruments. When she wasn’t on guitar, Anna Moss picked up her saxophone and beat boxed a few times (it sounded better than you’d imagine, consider the below). Joel also whipped out an upright double bass to strum for a few numbers, then passed it onto Anna. The double bass is a great instrument to add. It’s soothing, but makes you go wild when you hear the first strums into Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me.”
Joel used the bass to accompany a cover of Erykah Badu’s “Phone Down” that I have not been able to get out of my head since. Anna’s voice resembles the cool, calmingly soulful voice of the neo-soul/R&B icon (someone else whose sound is also difficult to define but certainly magnifique). Anna accompanied herself on guitar, too, which made for a divine rendition of the tune. On their recorded version, you can hear the light beatboxing Anna performed on stage.
Overall, Handmade Moments’ choices of song and instrument for the evening made the set charming. Performing a few covers was a great way to warm the audience up to you as an unfamiliar artist, I thought.
The Jack Johnson performance that was COVID delayed was worth the wait. But it was a pleasure to watch Handmade Moments put their sound together on stage.
You can see Handmade Moments’ upcoming shows here and support them by checking out their album on Bandcamp.
