A Pocket of Community: Mac N’ Toss, Loviet, and Milo In The Doldrums in DC
- Alder Boutin
- Sep 29
- 4 min read
A night of warm indie rock coalesced at Washington D.C.’s The Pocket on Thursday. Mac N’ Toss, the self-proclaimed riot grrrl band of DC, were followed by edgy rocker Loviet and upbeat ensemble Milo In The Doldrums. The three acts were not only engaging performers but also enthusiastic audience members for each other, fostering an air of carefree camaraderie.
Mac N’ Toss played a mix of original songs and covers, all interspersed with heartfelt anecdotes. “I have never met a boy,” singer/guitarist Devon Mullins deadpanned as introduction to the band’s unreleased track “Have You Ever Met A Boy.” “The people I date, even if they start out as a boy, they don’t end up as one.” Bassist Mac Burgoyne and drummer Annie Guske joined them in seamless folk-tinged harmonies for this pulsing track.
The outspoken trio drew cover material from feminist punk artists X-Ray Spex (“Identity”), Gina Young (“So-called Str8 Grrrl”), and Le Tigre (“Deceptacon”). Mullins made each song the band’s own with their animated facial expressions.
Mac N’ Toss dedicated “Feminine Reverie” to all survivors, urging the audience to approach survivor stories with gravity and empathy. This dark anthem’s lyrics repeat first over a slower beat and then over a faster one, before quieting to a lilt of she is not your reverie. As the final note cascaded into silence, Burgoyne cast a wide-eyed grin in Mullins’ direction that said, yeah, we did that. “Concealer” is the fury-fueled older sister of “Feminine Reverie” – an explicitly aimed middle finger at domestic abusers. I look forward to the release of “Good Try,” which, according to Burgoyne, would make a wonderful pop punk radio single if it weren’t for all the choice words that would have to be censored.
“Getting to perform after working day jobs is the joy of all three of our lives,” Mullins thanked the audience. They also stressed the continued importance of uplifting oases like The Pocket, given the increased militarization of D.C. and federal attacks on minority voices. Friend of the band and fellow photographer Julia White endorsed the band’s sincerity. “They truly care about their message and do things in their daily life that match their ethos,” she gushed. “I’ve been watching them since some of their first shows, and it’s been beautiful to watch them grow.”
Loviet’s lyrics are an addictive blend of anger and introspection, her tracks a compelling push and pull of electronic pop and grittier rock. The singer’s effortless rasp and rich-toned yearning in “What I Wouldn’t Give” set a high bar that the rest of her set easily met. Even as her eyes closed shut and her hair fell askew across her face, Loviet performed with her full body, making me forget that the pocket-sized stage could fit a full band. Blue light bathed her as she bent forward to whip her hair down and back, still strumming.
“I’m Loviet, and I don’t know anything about presidents,” she laughed – a recall to an earlier joke made by Mac N’ Toss’ Mullins’ about her Canadian nationality. “Nova Scotia probably doesn’t mean anything to anyone here,” she conceded; “It’s a strange place with strange characters.” This was her segue into “Star Treatment,” a crackling love-hate letter aimed right for the hearts of anyone who’s spent formative years in the fishbowl of a small town.
“Some Kind Of Drug” dives into metaphor across a thrumming indie pop beat. Since when do you need a label on the back of your love? Loviet asks. Her chunky-heeled black boots never stayed touching the floor for longer than a few seconds as she stepped side to side, kicking backward and lifting her guitar above her head.
Loviet is partway through her North American tour promoting her recent single “STIFFY.” Send me away / I know the place, she sings. Luckily for everyone in the room, one of the places she’s chosen to know and fill with her honest sound was The Pocket.
Milo In The Doldrums delivers music that doesn’t stop moving. Even the slower songs had me tapping my foot and bobbing my head to Rob Mays’ smooth, sorrowful croons. Avery Greeson’s guitar and Dallas Smith’s drumrolls carved their own rollercoasters of song without overpowering Mays. Smith usually plays bass, but he made an impressive switch to drums for this show as a fill-in for Samantha Collings, who is currently on tour with her other band Massie.
When Greeson’s guitar string snapped during the first song, the other acts didn’t hesitate to embody the Mac N’ Toss message of community unity. Loviet retrieved her own guitar to offer a temporary replacement, while Mullins whisked off the ailing instrument to re-string it with an extra of their own and return it mid-set.
“Honest Abe” was a standout Milo In The Doldrums track. Its flickering electric guitar and raw lyrics drew me in and got everyone grooving. I spent the latter half of their set dancing in a cluster with Mullins, Loviet, White, and her partner. White and I held our cameras gingerly aloft as we hopped and twirled, beaming.
Catch Mac N’ Toss and Milo In The Doldrums at their upcoming D.C. local shows and Loviet on the rest of her North American tour.
