Marissa Nadler
Cafe Colonial
March 23, 2026
Photos of the artist by Ebru Yildiz, provided by the artist
I recently heard that Cafe Colonial in Sacramento is supposedly haunted. I’ve been there many times and have never seen anything out of the ordinary or unnatural. I can’t say how many people who went to see Marissa Nadler there last week were also aware of the rumor, but instead of witnessing any ethereal specters, what the crowd got instead was a set of ethereal and beautiful music.
Following the release of her latest album New Radiations last year, Nadler finally brought her tour in support of the album through California, playing San Francisco the evening before. I can’t say how similar her performance was in Sacramento to the one the night before, but every time that I’ve seen Nadler perform it feels like I’m witnessing something wholly unique, experiencing something that can never, and will never, be replicated again.
Armed with two guitars (an acoustic and electric) that she would alternate between depending on the song, Marissa was joined onstage by her musical partner Milky Burgess. Milky has played on and arranged songs on Marissa’s albums Strangers, The Path Of The Clouds, and Marissa’s latest album New Radiations, and his instrumental flourishes and additions breathed new life into songs I had seen performed before, such as when he took over rhythm guitar duties on “All Out Of Catastrophes” so that Marissa could perform a slow and thoughtful extended guitar solo. Elsewhere throughout the set he was able to faithfully bring to the stage some of his musical parts from Marissa’s new album, such as the gorgeous slide guitar of “You Called Her Camellia.”
One of the things I’ve always loved so much about the music of Marissa Nadler is how it is a blend of so many different genres. It’s dreamy, it’s folky, it’s goth, it’s country, and somehow it all works. And for each disparate genre that Marissa seems to pull from and make work together, there were multiple members of the audience there for that specific element of her music. Goths with faces covered in makeup and full of piercings, guys dressed like Anthony Fantano, metalheads in hoodies with overly violent graphics on the front of them. All of them had come together and found a shared love for the music of Marissa Nadler.
I would imagine that one of the biggest difficulties for Marissa every time that she puts out a new record and tours for it is putting together the setlist and figuring out what older songs work against the new ones that she’s going to be performing. She not only has nearly a dozen studio albums, but also multiple EPs, various singles, and entire records of covers and sonic explorations. There were multiple songs played that were pulled from the album July, as well as songs from her two most recent albums and a showstopping rendition of “Your Heart Is A Twisted Vine” that closed the show. And even though I’ve seen her play songs like “Dead City Emily” multiple times, Marissa is the kind of consummate performer who makes even songs that you’ve seen played before sound brand new when you see her again. Granted, she also has the kind of voice that you could listen to spend an hour reciting the phone book, and it would still be one of the most beautiful things you’ve ever heard.
To call Marissa Nadler’s performance great would be an understatement. I could go on about things that happened in the performance or what songs she played, but the important thing at the heart of it all are her songs themselves. If you hear a Marissa Nadler song, you know it’s hers. It doesn’t matter if it’s from July or New Radiations. She has a voice and songwriting ability that forces you to pay attention to what she is playing, and everyone in attendance at her show in Sacramento knew that and paid attention accordingly. And I can’t wait to see her again.
Opening the show was solo act Ghost Marrow. The solo project of Aurielle Zeitler, her performance saw her perform almost entirely in darkness on just analog synthesizers and utilizing her voice in various interesting ways. It reminded me of the first few times that I saw I Speak Machine about ten years ago, and as the performance went on and became more intense I couldn’t help but be reminded of Lingua Ignota. I wish that she had played a bit longer, and I’ll definitely be seeing her perform again.
Playing second was the duo Gracie and Rachel. Combining vocals with keyboards, violin, and electronic percussion, the two perform well-crafted art pop music, their sound definitely indebted to some of Kate Bush’s earlier work, albeit with less dramatic vocals. Performing older songs as well as material from their upcoming album If We Could, Would We, the two are consummate in their back-and-forth vocals and musical prowess. Apparently they used to be based out of Berkeley but have since moved to New York, which is a shame because I would love to see more of them.
