The Midnight Anthem
Cedar Hill Cemetery
Hartford
July 23, 2026
There aren't many local places left where I haven't seen a concert yet. A cemetery was one of them until yesterday.
It was a night of firsts for me. Although I’ve heard country songs performed before, this was my first country music concert, where the genre was the main attraction. It was also my first time attending a concert in a cemetery, but I wasn’t alone in that regard. It was The Midnight Anthem’s first time playing such a unique venue.
The Midnight Anthem is a family affair, composed of sisters Sophia and Cat Malli with their cousin Grace Cuccia on vocals. Grace’s dad (and Sophia and Cat’s uncle) Dominick Cuccia is on percussion. Jim Indelicato plays bass and, Jae Tron lead guitar.
At Cedar Hill, there’s a lawn located between the Garden and Cedar mausoleums, surrounded by trees and tucked just back from the main road. A stage was built in front of the lawn, and as the concert began, it became quite easy to forget that we were in a cemetery.
The Midnight Anthem helped with that, using their harmonic blend of country and Americana to capture the neverending cycle of heartbreak and new love. The three leads, who call each other sisters by heart, coalesced into a group during the Covid lockdowns while performing together in Zoom open mics. They’ve been singing together their whole lives though, and it shows.
The three women put on an impressive two0hour set, covering greatest hits from the past as well as their own released and upcoming music. One of my favorites was a piece called “I’m Fine.” It was written to describe the feeling of not being well but not wanting to discuss it either, and contextualized into a breakup song. We’ve all been there, when all we want is to tell our significant other how much they’ve hurt us, but pride reduces our response down to two words:
I'm alone and you're out with our friends
On a Saturday night
Saw your truck parked outside
Guess I missed the invite
But I'm fine
Grace, Sophia and Cat have mastered the ability to weave their voices together into an aural blanket that covers not just a number of sounds, but emotions too. They modulate their voices and timbres when singing together, and each is strong and clear when singing solo too. The three had the infectious energy of a girl group, and brought the whole area to life (sorry, pun very much intended).
The Midnight Anthem nailed the covers they performed, including a country-style arrangement of the Fleetwood Mac classic “Dreams.” Again, the three brought their own unique style to the song about accepting the end of a relationship, and their harmonies gave the song an uplifting tone in the end.
Cedar Hill is probably the nicest cemetery I’ve ever been in. It was absolutely a night I’ll remember.
NEXT
The Midnight Anthem’s newest single, Free Falling Fiasco, is out now on streaming services.
Jamil goes to learn how to salsa, or at least watch other people learn.