photo: Monica Bowden

It’s been nearly eight years since The Barr Brothers last headlined a room in Philadelphia, and their performance at Underground Arts on February 19th proved that time has only sharpened their unique sonic alchemy. Marking over two decades since Brad and Andrew Barr first relocated from New England to Montréal, this stop on the Let It Hiss tour served as both a retrospective of their song-driven history and a vibrant declaration of their current creative rebirth.

The night opened with Anna Tivel, a self-proclaimed fan of Philly whose solo acoustic set established a frame of deep engagement. Her lyrics were powerful and clearly thoughtfully written, yet they avoided the pitfalls of feeling overly precious or academic. It was the perfect preamble to a night defined by extreme dynamics, as Tivel’s grounded folk paved the way for the Barrs to explore the vast space between pin-drop silence and feedback city.

Lit by a small row of Edison bulbs, the Brothers took the stage amid a wave of ethereal vocal harmonies and flanked by bassist Todd Dahlhoff and harpist Eveline Grégoire-Rousseau. The quartet opened with “Naturally,” a mellow, piano-led rocker from their latest album. With its Randy Newman-esque string of seventh chords that added a layer of low-key emotional poignancy, the tune reflected a 1970s Laurel Canyon-like sensibility that Andrew has noted in Brad’s newer songwriting. They followed this with “English Harbour,” another new track that sounded great, even without Jim James’ awesomely beautiful one-take background vocal that appears on the album. After album opener “Take It From Me” got the room nodding in unison, the band upped both the rhythm and intensity with “Look Before it Changes,” from 2017’s Queens of the Breakers.

Throughout the set, Brad switched from piano to his 1951 Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar, then to a heavily amplified ukulele, only to pick up a variety of electric guitars. The band mastered a wide range of registers, from pin-drop silence – the stage set got as small and quiet as just Brad and Andrew in front of a single mic, together performing the string bow technique Brad has showcased off and on for over a decade – to room shakingly loud as Brad coaxed noise and feedback from a heavily fuzzed-out 12-string Telecaster complemented by Andrew’s varied percussive tools and techniques. Grégoire-Rousseau filled the harp role amazingly, often sculpting the soundscape rather than merely supporting the melody. Her ethereal vocal harmonies added a vital, haunting texture to the loud and noisy title track, “Let It Hiss,” in a performance that brought the album’s central metaphor to life: a choice to allow the music to breathe amidst the discomfort and imperfection of the human experience.

The well-constructed setlist drew from across their catalog, with deep cuts like “Burn Card” from the Alta Falls EP fitting perfectly alongside the newer material. While the brothers have been rocking hard for a long time – not just with The Slip and Surprise Me Mr. Davis but also with their own tunes like “Give the Devil Back His Heart” or  “Come in the Water” – the Let It Hiss era feels distinctly liberated. The Brothers’ recent rebirth has provided the “jet fuel” for a live show that feels both polished and raw.

The encore was a pure community moment. An open-ended, instrumental build slowly transformed into a feelgood singalong of “Lean On Me,” which segued into “Song That I Heard.” The band finally closed with the timeless “Beggar in the Morning” from their debut LP. Underground Arts proved to be an ideal vessel for this performance: intimate enough for the quietest moments of brotherly reconnection, yet large enough to accommodate a fan base that has waited nearly a decade for this return. In 2026, the hiss isn’t interference; it’s proof of a band that has found its rhythm once again.