The Wilbur doesn’t do things halfway. The seated Boston theatre, with its no-phone policy and attentive crowds, demands a certain kind of performer. On Saturday night, Madison Cunningham was exactly that kind of performer.
Sam Weber opened the evening, just him and a stand-up bass player, and it was a fitting warmup. Weber’s guitar playing was genuinely impressive, the kind of technical fluency that earns respect in a room that came for one of the more celebrated guitarists in the genre. The pairing made sense immediately.
But when Cunningham took the stage, she sat down at the piano. For an artist so closely associated with the guitar (praised by John Mayer and Hozier alike, a Grammy winner for “Revealer”) it was a statement. But it tracked. “Ace,” her most recent album, is considerably more piano-driven than her previous work, and Cunningham made clear early that this wasn’t a side trick. She can play. Joined by Jesse Chandler on a rotating cast of woodwind instruments, the two built something that filled the Wilbur far beyond what two people on a stage should be capable of. Looping layered riffs and drones on top of each other, the sound expanded into something immersive and borderline orchestral. Close your eyes and you’d have sworn there was a full band behind her.
The set design matched the mood. Rocks, grass, and a forest backdrop framed the stage, and with Cunningham’s music toeing the line between soundscape and song, the whole experience felt haunting and peaceful at once. It’s a difficult balance to strike, but one she pulled off for the duration of the evening.
The setlist leaned heavily on “Ace,” an album Cunningham has described as the most personally direct work of her career. Where her earlier records approached heartbreak through metaphor, “Ace” faces it head on. “I didn’t know if I even had language for it at first,” she told us when we spoke ahead of the album’s release. “Then, when the songs came, they all came in two months.” That shows in a live setting. “Break the Jaw,” which she has called the angriest she’s ever been on a record, hit with exactly the same force the title implies. “My Full Name,” the album’s lead single built around piano rather than guitar, served as a reminder of why she made that choice as the opening statement for this era. “Wake” and “Hospital” each carried the weight they carry on the record, perhaps more so in a room this quiet and focused.
The set closed with “Best of Us” before an encore of “Life According to Raechel” and “Song in My Head” sent a sold-out Wilbur in the kind of reflective silence that only certain shows leave behind. In our interview, Cunningham said her barometer for a finished song isn’t perfection but whether it’s alive. Saturday night at the Wilbur, every song felt just that.
For tickets to see Madison Cunningham live, visit madisoncunningham.com/tour/
Nathan Smith is a Providence-based music photographer and journalist focusing on capturing the special moments and unfiltered magic of live performances. Whether he’s shooting established artists at sold-out TD Garden shows or documenting the rise of emerging local bands, his goal is the same: to pull viewers directly into the heart of the moment.
His writing spotlights rising artists and local scenes, with a focus on telling the stories that often get overlooked. A lifelong music fan and musician himself, Nathan approaches interviews and portraits as conversations rather than transactions, building trust with artists so their genuine personalities can shine through. Whether he’s backstage, in the photo pit, or at home in front of the keyboard, he brings the same curiosity and care to every assignment.
Outside of his press work with Juice Box Press, Nathan works regularly as a photographer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous bands in the Boston and Providence area. Nathan also plays violin with a local orchestra, follows Celtics basketball almost religiously, and is an avid fantasy reader.