The Indigo Girls on Tour at the Wiltern - Concert Review

It was a great night to be tangled up in indigo.

With a rocking, nearly two-hour set that mixed familiar hits with new songs and closed with a rousing rendition of the Bob Dylan classic “Tangled Up in Blue,” the Indigo Girls — Amy Ray and Emily Saliers — turned in an electrifying performance Saturday night at Los Angeles’s Wiltern Theatre in a stop on their first electric tour. Ably supported by Southern quintet the Shadowboxers as both opening act and backing band, Ray and Saliers put on a thoroughly entertaining, joy-filled show.

It was a great night to be tangled up in indigo.

With a rocking, nearly two-hour set that mixed familiar hits with new songs and closed with a rousing rendition of the Bob Dylan classic “Tangled Up in Blue,” the Indigo Girls — Amy Ray and Emily Saliers — turned in an electrifying performance Saturday night at Los Angeles’s Wiltern Theatre in a stop on their first electric tour. Ably supported by Southern quintet the Shadowboxers as both opening act and backing band, Ray and Saliers put on a thoroughly entertaining, joy-filled show.

While it’s true that the Indigos’ sweet vocal harmonies and earnest, soulful lyrics are hallmarks of their music, it’s also true that these girls can rock, and that was much in evidence Saturday night. Familiar favorites like “Galileo,” “Get Out the Map,” “Power of Two” and, of course, “Closer to Fine” inspired audience sing-alongs and energetic dancing.

Equally impressive were a variety of other songs from their extensive discography, such as “Least Complicated,” which opened their set; the working-class lament “Cold Beer and Remote Control,” which Ray described as “a song about total despondency that you can dance to”; “Second Time Around,” with Saliers doing excellent work on mandolin and harmonica; and “Fly Away,” one of several songs that featured terrific keyboard accompaniment by the Shadowboxers’ Matt Lipkins, whose repertoire includes soaring church-organ sounds, bouncy roller rink–style effects, and haunting bluesy notes.

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