Laundry Day at Higher Ground
Photo by Lauren Chenette
On a frigid Burlington night, the air outside Higher Ground felt sharp enough to snap guitar strings. Inside, however, Laundry Day delivered the kind of warmth that only a tightly packed crowd and a band with full command of its momentum can generate.
The New York-based four-piece have built their reputation on DIY ethos and genre fluidity, and that elasticity was on full display. From the moment they stepped on stage, Laundry Day treated the room less like a Sunday night tour stop and more like a house party that had blissfully spun out of control. The band wasted little time launching into punchy, beat-driven tracks opening with “R U READY?”, blending indie rock crunch with glossy pop hooks. The low ceiling and intimate layout of Higher Ground’s Showcase Lounge amplified every single word that was shouted by the crowd.
What sets Laundry Day apart isn’t just their sound, it's their chemistry. The members rotated between instruments and vocal duties with easy confidence, creating a sense of spontaneity that felt genuine rather than rehearsed. Between songs, they bantered with the crowd, never feeling like a filler, but an extension of their collaborative spirit.
Photo by Lauren Chenette
Highlights included explosive songs, such as “BENT,” that turned the floor into a kinetic wave of bobbing heads and moving bodies. Even when playing a new song, it was met with enthusiasm and genuine excitement from the Vermont crowd. When the band leaned into their more melodic material, like “Jane”, the room swayed in unison with Sawyer’s vocals on that track. Laundry Day demonstrated an impressive ability to shift emotional gears without losing energy, one moment euphoric and danceable, the next intimate and reflective.
The production struck a careful balance between polish and grit. Vocals occasionally blurred into distortion at peak intensity, but rather than detract, it underscored the rawness of the performance. Their live show feels less like a replication of studio recordings and more like a reinvention, making the songs louder, looser, and more alive. By the time the last few songs rolled around, the crowd’s stamina still matched the band’s. Final choruses of “Why is Everyone a DJ?” and “SUPERMODEL” were shouted back at the stage as if no one wanted the night to tip into last call territory. Laundry Day closed with the same urgency they’d opened with, leaving the audience sweaty, smiling, and already nostalgic for a show that had ended just minutes earlier.
In a city known for embracing eclectic touring acts, Laundry Day’s stop at Higher Ground felt like a perfect fit. On a cold Sunday night, they turned a modest venue into the hottest and most unpretentiously fun room in town.
Photo by Lauren Chenette
