Vocalist Veronica Swift is gearing up to play her fourth area show this year when she’ll be headlining the Music Hall at World Café Live on September 12th. Swift sold out Longwood Gardens this March, before making special appearances at The Dresden Dolls’ June shows at Union Transfer, which had her performing “Delilah” off of the band’s 2006 LP Yes, Virginia… both nights, in addition to “Sing,” which closed out Night Two.
“They were one of my favorite bands from my childhood!” Veronica tells me of the dark cabaret duo during a recent phone chat, going on to explain, “We didn’t have internet in my house growing up, so I remember being 12 years old and going to the library and watching videos and interviews with them!” Swift actually first covered “Sing” (also off of Yes, Virginia…) on 2021 LP This Bitter Earth. And apparently Brian Viglione (The Dresden Dolls’ drummer and co-founder) found it via Google Alerts and instantly fell in love, with both the cover and Swift herself… The two have been living together as life partners ever since! “I’d tell young musicians to be careful what they manifest because it might come true!” she jokes with me.
Last September Veronica Swift released the follow-up to This Bitter Earth, a self-titled full-length which dropped courtesy of Mack Avenue (her home since 2019’s Confessions) and includes covers of Nine Inch Nails and Queen, in addition to musical theatre classics and a handful of originals. Swift classifies the album as “transgenre,” something that she tells me she and Brian (who served as drummer and co-producer) first began exploring as COVID restrictions started to ease up.
“The whole transgenre concept began as a way for me to transition my career to a rock n’ roll band,” Swift explains. She also admits that certain audiences seem to appreciate her new sounds a little more so than others: “Going to Europe and Japan and seeing the audiences there really get it has been really nice. Older audiences, like 55 and up, are so used to seeing me in a different way that they aren’t as receptive out here.” However, she tells me that her latest sounds need to be experienced in a live setting: “You gotta come to the show to see what it’s really about! The performance is the glue, and I’m going to take you on a journey through song.”
Veronica’s current batch of live dates take her through the end of November. After her US headlining tour, she’ll be playing Randy Newman’s FAUST: In Concert for two nights in Northridge, California, before a run of international dates, including the EFG London Jazz Festival and the NCPA International Jazz Festival in Mumbai. “I’m really excited to play Mumbai, India, because it’s not every day an artist like me can go over there and play,” Swift tells me, but clarifies that she enjoys playing every type of show: “We’ve played everything from the Hollywood Bowl to tiny little 100-seat jazz venues… We always play like it’s Wembley. My personality is like Wembley [laughs].” She also explains that she appreciates all of the different experiences: “When you play in different settings or with different musicians, it’s a learning experience. You don’t get set in the same formulas and patterns.”
However, Swift does confess that there’s one setting that pushes her a little outside of her comfort zone: “I don’t share this onstage, but I feel uncomfortable in the intimate settings, like a small little room. It feels like a fishbowl.” “300-500 is ideal. It’s like in-between,” she tells me, which is perfect for her September 12th show at the Music Hall at World Café Live, which will be largely seated, so definitely a bit under its max capacity of 650. She also says that she’s long wanted to play the University City landmark: “I’ve been wanting to play World Café Live for years!” And while Swift says that fans of her older sound might be a bit surprised by her current live show (“There’s still, of course, the older audiences who are not on YouTube or Instagram, so they’re coming based on the old videos…”), it does seem to speak to various generations.
“It’s a very high energy show, but, of course, there are some ballads, as well… The opening of the show is like the opening of the record, the singles that people know. And then we play a set of unrecorded songs, but you will definitely know them! It’s like a sonic acid trip. Expect some Led Zeppelin and Jefferson Airplane and a lot of Queen. You’ll get jazz and rock takes on Queen! And then I’ll introduce what will be the future of my original music, my rock n’ roll band… We do end with ‘Sing’ by The Dresden Dolls, so everyone will know that!”
“I have my roots in jazz, but my heart and soul is in rock n’ roll and ‘70s music,” Veronica explains to me, and that includes her taste in fashion, as well: “Of course, I love Freddie [Mercury]! I love the use of symbolism and imagery for the narrative.” I also learn that her current sartorial style (which was on full display when she appeared with The Dresden Dolls at Union Transfer) was inspired by her recent knighting by the French republic: “It’s the battle dress! We’re all knights, we’re fighting the world that wants you to fit in a box, leading a transgenre army.”
And Veronica tells me that Mack Avenue is fully supportive of her current musical direction: “Their machine is like a family vibe… These are people I’ve had a personal relationship with for many years… It’s been a beautiful experience.” But when I ask how she plans to spend the end of 2024 and start of 2025, Swift tells me that she will be doing a bit of more traditional jazz before returning to her current band: “Every now and then, when I get back and have a quick break from my own tour, I’ll guest on Chris Botti’s show. He does a famous holiday residency at Blue Note in New York, so December and January I will be a featured guest on his residencies, and then I’ll be hitting the road with my band in February.”
*Get your tickets here.