Snail Mail bounces back from surgery with quietly crushing, and uplifting, show at Milwaukee's Turner Hall Ballroom

After her whole industry was grounded by COVID-19 in 2020, Lindsey Jordan released one of last year's most acclaimed albums — “Valentine" (co-produced by Wisconsin native Brad Cook), behind her project Snail Mail.

But the same month the album came out and the indie rocker was getting ready to hit the road, Jordan was grounded again.

Polyps in her vocal cords forced her to have surgery and postpone several concerts — including a Milwaukee show initially set for last December. That show finally took place Friday.

"That sucks in every way," Jordan, 23, said from the Turner Hall Ballroom stage about the surgery and postponed tour. "I didn't know if you were still going to come. I really appreciate it. The show is better now."

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At that point, Jordan didn't even know about the show's best part.

Jordan was about halfway through a 70-minute set when a fan requested "Valentine" track "c. et al.," which Jordan and her four backing musicians haven't been playing this tour. But Jordan said she was up for the challenge.

"I just know this is going to be crazy," Jordan said. "It's such a riffy little song. That's the thing: Riffy little songs need to be practiced. Not by me though."

She was clearly joking, because "c. et al." was tough for the talented Jordan, performing solo at that point, to pull off.

But it was those flaws, Jordan's unfazed determination and the crowd's elated cheers of encouragement that made this one-of-a-kind moment so special — and made those intricate guitar riffs, when Jordan did nail them, all the sweeter.

While Jordan's likeminded peers like Mitski and Phoebe Bridgers have moved up to larger, more theatrical, live shows, Snail Mail is still in the club and small-theater stage of its career.

And that has its pluses — the intimacy of the settings, as illustrated at Turner Hall, enhanced the vulnerability of Jordan's heartbroken catalog. And a spontaneous performance like the fan-requested "c. et al." probably wouldn't have happened in a bigger venue.

But should those big theaters come Snail Mail's way — and based on the two excellent albums so far, they deserve to — Jordan's voice will be ready to fill the big rooms.

Friday night, Jordan suggested her voice has gotten higher since the surgery. But live, those floating, at times soaring vocals magnified the emotional pathos of songs like "Golden Dream," from her dynamic debut full-length album "Lush," and "Valentine" standout "Headlock."

Jordan's lower register still resonates as well, and Friday for "Forever (Sailing)" from "Valentine," Jordan used the range of her voice to simulate her emotional ups and downs. "So much destruction," she sang repeatedly with guttural rasp, the sentiment juxtaposed by piercing cries of "You don't just forget."

Jordan also enhanced her songs live with magnetic guitar work, from a snarling solo for "Valentine" song "Glory" to a plucky, wide-eyed guitar intro for "Thinning" from career-establishing debut EP "Habit."

And Jordan lightened the emotional load here and there, finishing a can of beer and tossing it to the ground for "Madonna" and playfully dancing to "Ben Franklin" as she repeatedly sang, "I've got the devil in me."

But Snail Mail was at its best when it fully embraced the pain, most poignantly for "Valentine" closer "Mia." The live rendition Friday, with Jordan on acoustic guitar, accompanied only by another guitarist, was far slower, and more devastating, than on the recording.

"Isn't it strange the way it's just over? No late-night calls," Jordan sang at the song's beginning. "You're not here to walk me to my door. Now I just love you more."

And after what felt like endless agony, Jordan tortured herself further, figuratively twisting the knife.

"You're fixing your hair on the way to his place," she sang. "I bet he feels so (expletive) light."

"Shall we ruin the mood now?" Jordan joked just before beginning the song.

Even after brilliantly bouncing back from a career-threatening chapter, turns out some things still suck. But Jordan, and her fans Friday, were happy to finally commiserate together.

The takeaways

• Snail Mail did one cover Friday, of Muse’s “Starlight,” with Jordan and company stripping away the song’s bombast. The result was a more straightforward, but surprisingly more intimate and personal, rendition.

• Are we past COVID protocols at shows once and for all? The Snail Mail show was billed on the Pabst site as requiring face masks and proof of vaccination, but no one checked for cards Friday, and only a couple of folks wore masks.

• Two bands warmed up for Snail Mail Friday. Hotline TNT threw out droll garage rock that belied its name, but Momma made a stronger impression. Initially, a hair awkward  — singer and guitarist Etta Friedman made a “That ‘70s Show” reference that didn’t land — but Friedman and fellow singer and guitarist Allegra Weingarten were comfortable enough by the end of a 40-minute set to playfully shove their instruments into each other for the tongue-in-cheek “Rockstar,” off July’s “Household Name.” The Breeders are a clear influence, and Friedman was explicit about that Friday, saluting her “favorite band” with a cover of “Divine Hammer.”

The setlist

1. "Heat Wave"

2. "Speaking Terms"

3. "Headlock"

4. "Glory"

5. "Madonna"

6. "Golden Dream"

7. "Thinning"

8. "Automate"

9. "Ben Franklin"

10. "Full Control"

11. "Starlight" (Muse cover)

12. "Forever (Sailing)"

13. "Mia"

14. "c. et al."

15. "Adore You"

16. "Valentine"

17. "Pristine"

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Snail Mail returns with an uplifting Milwaukee show at Turner Hall