Joseph performs at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley on April 28, 2022. Karen Goldman/STAFF.

BERKELEY — Before sister act Joseph found unexpected success with 2016 album I’m Alone, No You’re Not, the sisters Closner spent several years gigging in bars by themselves, with only their voices and eldest sister Natalie providing accompaniment on a guitar.

Two albums later and seemingly on the precipice of a new one—their fourth—the trio has found itself, again, with their powerful yet nuanced voices and the eldest sister’s nimble fingerpicking. Joseph played Freight & Salvage on Thursday. It was a far cry from the sisters’ last headlining Bay Area show, pre-pandemic at a sold-out Fillmore, backed by a full band. But in the ways that count most, it wasn’t all that different—even with the rock band, the focus was on those voices and Natalie Closner Schepman playing a mean lead.

The current tour is billed as “Requests Only,” with fans voting on or submitting song requests in advance. With such a minimalist set-up, the band would have certainly been able to pivot had the requests come straight from fans’ mouths in the room. As it was, the songs and their order appeared set in stone before Joseph hit the stage. That didn’t make it any less rewarding, however.

Joseph performs at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley on April 28, 2022.

The sisters breezed through a roughly 18-song set in about 75 minutes, their voices weaving in and out or gliding together to make some beautiful harmonies. Each sister—the band includes twins Allison and Meegan—took starring turns, with the ensemble pieces splitting those songs out throughout the set.

A few times, Schepman switched out an acoustic guitar for an electric cherry red Gibson SG. She began the show on the electric, with “Lifted Away.” Besides singing and providing the sole instrumentation on the guitar, she also stomped on a kick drum pad, providing both the percussion, rhythm and pace for the entire performance.

Following a hearty “SOS (Overboard),” with Meegan singing lead, Natalie introduced “Green Eyes” as the most requested song of the night and the tour itself. The band dedicated “I Don’t Mind” to a fan celebrating a birthday, before Meegan introduced the first of two new songs performed on Thursday. The first, titled either “I Am the Sun,” or perhaps “Revolving Door, Part B”—as a follow-up to a song on 2019 album Good Luck, Kid—was a continuation of a story told by Meegan about the dissolution of a relationship. Allison sang lead on poppy new song “Switch,” which she said was both about getting unwanted relationship advice and about one of her new favorite pandemic shows, “Love Island.”

The performance included apparent fan favorites like “Whirlwind,” “Without You” and “Blood and Tears,” as well as a terrific Schepman-led “Hundred Ways,” which had the sisters belting. There was also a cover or two. The most notable one was an electric cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Moonlight Mile,” with Schepman jamming on her guitar.

Between songs, the sisters told short stories and bantered about with each other. At one point, opening act Brother. (the name has a period, yes) came out and performed “NYE” with Joseph, including some humorous choreographed dance moves that Meegan later joked she got from *NSYNC in the ’90s. The show’s highpoint came with “White Flag,” which the band began quietly, giving the trio a runway to build the song up, bring it back down, and do it all again.

The encore included “Eyes To the Sky,” “Room For You” and a meditative “Honest,” with Schepman providing a surprisingly rich tapestry with her fingerpicking.

Salt Lake City band Brother., a quintet but performing as a duo, opened the show with both music and some dry humor. Singer Chuck Emery played guitar and initiated the hit or miss jokes, while Nathan Standage played guitar, keyboard and a kick drum (usually at least two instruments at once) and gave acknowledging “Yes, the singer is with me” smiles.

Brother. performs at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley on April 28, 2022.

The roughly 30-minute set consisted of reverb-laden songs, stripped down or rearranged for a duo; such as “We’re (Not) Alone,” “Without It” (which featured some bluesy guitar noodling) and “1985” (on which Emery sang in a whisper).

There was also a new song that Emery said he wrote for his sister, who felt like she had to escape Utah and move to New York. The song exuded Radiohead “Creep” vibes, at least that song’s verses.

“This is our first time in Berkeley,” Emery said in one of his strongest puns. “I dated a girl named Berkeley once. The city is much better.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Karen Goldman at Twitter.com/Xposure120 and Instagram.com/XposureArts.