thuy has hit the road once again, this time as support for Ella Mai. KTRU got a preview of what’s coming to Houston, having attended the opening of the tour in Wallingford, CT.
She performed some of her hits like “Girls Like Me Don’t Cry” and “in my bag,” as well as “my universe.” If her headlining tour didn’t prove her star power before, her performance as an opener for Mai did – her performance was strong, and she interacted with the crowd like a natural. I’m sure she left an impact for the audience to remember her after that night, and it was a pleasure to watch her again.
thuy is an R&B artist from the Bay area, supporting Ella Mai on her “Heart on My Sleeve” tour.
Most concerts, even big ones, are pretty localized to the date and time of the show. However, Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras’ tour is more than just a show, rather, it is an event drawing people from around the country for each show. Throughout the whole weekend, I saw ‘Eras’ tour shirts everywhere with people eager for the upcoming show or celebrating the one they saw the day before. The metro red line ran an advertisement over the speakers integrating Taylor Swift song names and reminding people that it could be used to avoid traffic. This ad was effective as every afternoon of a show, trains were packed with people not just heading to the concert, but dressed up as their favorite era of Taylor’s music.
Taylor Swift can draw a crowd like no other and makes it incredibly worth it for her fans with an intricate performance and massive setlist. Swift is the first artist to sell out three dates in a row at NRG Stadium, sales numbers she accomplished in multiple cities and that were still not enough to fill the demand. Not only is the show incredible, but it is amazing how clear and pristine Swift is able to keep her voice with so many shows in a row. For those of you who don’t know, each night Taylor Swift plays a 44-song set, with two surprise songs. The massive set is broken into smaller sets from each album that Swift has released, walking the audience through her storied career in a three-plus hour spectacle.
I attended the Saturday show, the second of the three that Taylor Swift performed in Houston, the city where Swift’s mother, a UH graduate, grew up. The metro was again filled to the brim with excited Swifties on the way to the show, by far the most glitter and sequins I have ever seen on Houston public transit. Getting to the venue, there was a giant banner proclaiming “NRG Stadium (Taylor’s Version),” in a reference to her re-recording efforts to gain control of her catalog. Upon entering the area around the stadium, I saw merch booths filled with people trying to get shirts for the tour and other merchandise like bracelets and tapestries. Once I got into the stadium, venue staff gave me a bracelet with a light on it, similar to those given at stops on The Weeknd’s most recent tour. The bracelet’s light was later used for an effect akin to light sticks at a K-pop concert to fill the audience with color that extends the production design to the whole venue.
The show began with opener Gracie Abrams, who emerged onto the vast stage wearing a Taylor Swift shirt. The stage was kept stark for the openers, with the engulfing video board taking on a variety of colors with close ups on the left, right, and center. Having only heard a few Gracie Abrams songs prior to her set, I was impressed at her smooth vocals and stage energy. She spoke to the crowd about how much Swift means to her and her excitement to be on the tour in between songs before skipping off the stage.
The same stage setup was maintained for Beabadoobee’s set. I saw her on her last tour and she did not disappoint in NRG Stadium. Closing with “Cologne,” Beabadoobee brought a rock energy to the venue with her soft, almost whispery voice. She too talked about Taylor Swift and her excitement to be on the tour, describing Swift as “one badass woman.” She ended her set running down the runway, towards the crowd, before blowing a kiss and leaving. Both openers’ apparent awe at opening for Swift and excitement at the opportunity really underscores how big of an event each tour stop is. Even the people who are part of the production seemed amazed at what was to come, as the crowd’s anticipation only grew.
Suddenly, after a break from Beabadoobee’s set, the stage changed to display a giant clock on the screen with accompanying digital countdowns on either side. At two seconds, the lights in the venue went off and on completion the clock moved out shifting into a range of videos being shown. Backup dancers came out with giant, flowing fans before Swift herself triumphantly graced the stage. She began with the “Lover” era, starting with Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince.
After a song or two, Taylor Swift took a breath as the crowd roared in applause, brushing her hair back and glowing in excitement for the experience she was about to provide for the audience. Even at this level, Swift makes the show something deeply personal for fans, showing how much it means to her and imbuing it with more meaning for her long-time listeners by extension. When she talks to the audience, you can tell that she is speaking from the heart and the craft that went into her music. Ending her first segment speaking with the audience, Swift proclaimed, “You’re making me feel like I’m the first artist to play three shows at this gorgeous stadium… you’re making me feel like I’m the man,” a perfect segway to her song “The Man.”
Swift’s stage design heavily utilizes the display behind her, combined with physical elements in a way that led to the band being moved to the wings of the stage. At times, Swift had platforms that raised her up above the rest of the stadium, which also made her easier to see for much of the audience. Physical structures, such as the skeleton of an office used for “The Man,” provided a unique visual texture to the night.
As much as I would like to do a play-by-play of every moment of the night, for concision and to avoid spoiling the whole performance for people who have not gone yet, I will resist and focus on some highlights of the night. First off, Taylor Swift has so many classics. It’s impossible to not know a large number of the songs she played, but eras such as “Fearless” and “Red” were incredibly impactful due to the nostalgia associated with many of the compositions.
“Reputation” is an album that was almost made to be played live. The energy, the aesthetics: everything just meshes so well together to create something captivating to see in the stadium. The era began with a video montage of Swift walking and visuals of snakes, a symbol of that era before breaking into “…Ready For It.” Despite a large number of wardrobe changes throughout the night, her outfit for “Reputation” was perhaps the most striking. Wearing a one-legged black sequined jumpsuit, designed by Roberto Cavalli and finished with red snakes wrapping around Swift, Taylor looked triumphant as she performed songs from an era that saw her redefine her relationship with the media and question many of her personal relationships.
“Red” was another segment that had strong significance for Swift. Within the context of her career, it was a signal of her desire to shed the constraints of country music and explore new sounds. Additionally, it is one of the two albums that she has released re-recordings for as of the performance. Taylor Swift prefaced saying that “Red” is “an album I got to experience twice now,” before thanking her fans for making the re-recordings possible by supporting her and streaming the newer versions. In a classic moment, she began the last song of that era with, “one more song from the ‘Red’ era if you happen to have ten minutes,” before playing the expanded version of “All Too Well” to a captive audience.
“Folklore” brought a woodsy background combined with a house on the stage that Swift performed in. Swift explained to the audience what made “Folklore” different for her in that she created characters, instead of being “so incredibly invasively autobiographical.” One of the persistent things that made the concert so great was Swift’s insight into her work that she shared with the audience. For example, before playing “Betty” in the aforementioned house, she described the song and her writing process, humorously adding that it was a return to her theme of “womansplaining to men how to apologize.”
As stated earlier, the set is not the same every night, Swift includes two “surprise songs,” which are often deeper cuts from her catalog. At this show, she played “A Place in This World” on guitar from her self-titled debut album. Swift followed with “Today Was a Fairytale,” played live for the first time since 2013 on piano. These songs felt particularly meaningful as Swift played alone, accompanying herself, on a bare stage without the visual spectacle of most of her performance. The surprise song section culminated with her famous stage dive, where Swift dives head first into an opening on the stage with video that makes it appear as if she is swimming through the runway, before ending with a selection of songs from “Midnights.”
Taylor Swift is not only one of the most well-known artists of this generation, but also an all-time great live performer. Everything, from the vocals to the visuals and the extra touches, like coordinated lights in the audience given on entry, came together to create something truly memorable. Having last toured for “Reputation,” this tour is the first tour for four of Swift’s ten studio albums. Swift spoke about her excitement to bring those albums to her fans in-person throughout the show, but the real testament to this desire to perform for the people who have been affected by her music was her constant look of joy throughout the show. During the whole performance, Swift’s face was filled with genuine delight that easily transferred to the audience. For around three hours, Taylor Swift provided an escape from the issues of daily life and into the world created by her music for thousands of fans.
NCT DREAM recently invited us, and members of other college media from around the United States, to talk with them in a virtual roundtable event. The third sub-group of popular K-pop group NCT, NCT DREAM was formed in 2016 to capture a more youthful energy. They are currently in the midst of their first world tour, “NCT DREAM TOUR ‘THE DREAM SHOW2 : In A DREAM.’” NCT DREAM consists of seven members: MARK, RENJUN, JENO, HAECHAN, JAEMIN, CHENLE, and JISUNG.
MARK began by telling the journalists gathered on the Zoom call why NCT DREAM wanted to talk specifically to college journalists, beginning with the group’s history.
“We started our careers when we were all below or under the age of 18. Even then, we had this goal and our goal was to be a symbol of healing for listeners and to be a beacon of hope to everyone that sees us and that supports us and especially for people that were young like us, young dreamers,” MARK said. “And once we heard that you guys are aspiring and striving to be journalists… It felt perfect and in a way meaningful for us to come by and say hi, and to see that there are people like us, who are just striving so hard for their dreams and, basically, we’re here to support too.”
This emphasis on supporting young people as they work to attain their dreams is something essential to NCT DREAM’s ideals as a group. Members also spoke about what it means to them and what it takes to embark on their first US and world tour after having previously played at events like K-CON in the US.
“We’ve never done this before, even though it’s been around eight years since we debuted. We have a lot of history and a lot of reasons for why we’re doing it now. But, long story short, we’re now beginning to really see the world and to travel all over the world to see our fans and so this first tour really means a lot. We really had prepared very strong performance wise and mindset wise to make sure that we can show the world our capabilities and what we are striving for,” MARK said.
As NCT DREAM embarks on such a monumental tour, members also reflected on the differences between performing at home and for an American and international audience.
“I would have to say that more so than having differences in our stages. It’s really just all of the experiences that we were able to gain from all of the past tours and cities that we’ve gone to and performed at. I think that we are able to try harder and just be able to freely express ourselves even more,” JENO noted.
“I think each city that we perform at has its own different charm and atmosphere and, for example, when we performed in Newark or even Paris, I felt like we were able to really enjoy those moments together with our fans. And that also gave us a lot more strength,” added RENJUN.
Even though touring can be difficult, members of the group still make time to recharge and recover from time on the road and were eager to share how they do this when asked.
“Playing games and shopping and drinking beer,” HAECHAN jokingly remarked. “As soon as I arrived, I went straight to the gym,” added JAEMIN. “I played basketball with MARK,” offered CHENLE. MARK later noted, “when we get some free time and alone time in the hotel… watching movies really does kill time and you can get motivation and inspiration… And going to some good malls, department stores… alleviates stress, you know, getting a new nice looking shirt.”
These activities are complemented by a range of activities specific to the places they visit on tour.
“Things like seeing the Eiffel Tower,” shared RENJUN as JISUNG noted that they “usually go to famous landmarks to take photos and enjoy foods from those countries as well.” Specific to Texas, RENJUN added that they “are very much looking forward to Texas barbeque” at their Houston stop before JAEMIN jumped in emphasizing “I love it… Texas barbeque.”
For those not as familiar with K-pop, RENJUN shared what sets NCT DREAM apart from other groups.
“I have to say that for NCT DREAM, what sets us apart is our history and the story that we’ve created since our debut. Every K-pop group has a different color, but for NCT DREAM, it’s really the hope that we’re trying to share and give to the youth, the story that we have, and just the fun that we’re able to show through our music as well,” RENJUN said.
When asked if they could recall a specific case where they have been able to see their music changing someone’s life, RENJUN recounted a story he had heard.
“I’m not quite sure if I could say that it’s, you know, changed the lives of fans. But there was this one event we had, a video call event, and we had a chance to speak with a fan and the fan had to undergo surgery and… was very nervous about that. But before going in they listened to ‘Hello Future’ and through that track, they were able to find peace and strength. When I heard this story, I was very touched and it just made everything that we worked on feel much more meaningful,” RENJUN recalled.
NCT DREAM has grown both as people and as musicians over their years together. The members were very ready to share advice for their past selves and how their growth appears in their music.
“Don’t be scared and don’t be shy,” JISUNG advised “Back then, I was very concerned with what people would think and I was very shy, but I don’t think there’s a need for that.”
“Our growth is definitely visible in our music… Technically our voices have actually changed as well over the years. But besides that, just our inspirations and the way we convey our emotions in music itself has grown… we really like to put our experiences and our emotions into our music as much as we can and we’re still growing and I feel like our fans are going with us,” said MARK.
Additionally, RENJUN had some advice for college students working towards their dreams.
“I would have to say that, you know, your college years are when you have the most passion and the most strength to pursue your dreams… I would want to say to do everything that you want to do, so that you live without regrets,” RENJUN shared.
With two minutes left before they needed to start preparing for their show at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, MARK genuinely thanked the student journalists in attendance and offered a final piece of advice for everyone.
“Don’t forget that you guys are still so young. Like if you guys go on the road and feel like, ‘ah, this isn’t for me,’ you still have time to do something else,” MARK said.
NCT DREAM is currently on their first world tour and is available to listen to wherever you hear music.
Indian Ensemble on March 24, 23 @ 8:00PM, Wortham Center/Cullen Theater Tickets: IAAHouston.org. Contact 832.315.6586 for Group discounts Student 20% discount with checkout code “IAABIE20”. About Berklee Indian Ensemble: The Ensemble was founded in 2011 by Annette Philip, the first Indian music faculty member at the Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA). It is a world renowned collective known for honoring its Indian roots while boldly experimenting with a cross-pollination of genres, and multi-disciplinary art. The ensemble boasts over 300 million YouTube views and has organically transitioned from a university ensemble to a professional band.
Featuring over 400 students and alumni from 52 nations, the ensemble has collaborated with some of the world’s most celebrated musicians such as Pt. Zakir Hussain and A.R. Rahman.
Grammy-nominated and Latin Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Carla Morrison definitely has dedicated fanbase up in Northeast United States. This tour comes as Morrison breaks into the Billboard Hot 100 with collaborative feature on Karol G’s latest album and title track “Mañana Será Bonito.” Knowing how accomplished she is and having interviewed her (see here), I was intrigued and curious to see her perform live.
Morrison’s opening act was sister duo Reyna, a synth-pop/electro-pop act with Latin influence. Their youthful energy served as an interesting foil to Morrison’s emotional maturity, making it feel like I saw two shows that night. I liked how they would quip with the audience and introduce songs by talking about the inspiration behind them (like “a toxic ex”), and I look forward to adding a few of their songs to my playlist.
With a full band accompanying her, she began the night with “Eres Tu,” a fun, light-hearted preview of what the night would offer. Morrison has a voice with such clarity that really hits you in the heart, and her performance was a fantastic blend of catharsis and celebration, as could be observed with how joyous the audience was. The crowd enthusiastically sang along with Carla and frequently expressed their joy with calls of “¡Te amo!” all night. Some even danced out of their seat, and by the end of the night, audience members left their seats to rush to the stage front to dance along with her for her final song, “Diamantes.” Even with a language barrier for me, I felt the sincerity throughout the night whenever she spoke or sang, and I left the venue that night feeling refreshed, optimistic, and eager to write this review.
Whoever crafted the lineup for the New Haven stop of Eric Bellinger’s Obsession Tour had their finger on the pulse of pop culture – all the artists are talented multihyphenates, and the common thread was their R&B discography.
The night at Toad’s Place started with a warmup with Melody Shari. She performed her whole discography – which consists of 2 songs as of the writing of this article. Though it did seem disjointed from the rest of the night’s lineup stylistically and timewise, I still enjoyed her set.
The next performer is not new to the music scene, but hadn’t released her own music until recently. Even if her bright red suit or her signature blue hair didn’t catch your eye, GoGo Morrow’s vocal performance commanded your attention. The songstress struck a nice balance between slow jams and punchy tracks, with energetic backup dancers enhancing the performance. With a long list of accomplishments as a performer under her belt, she’s got the making for a strong artist in wherever she wants to go. I hope to have the privilege to see her live again and see how she grows.
Trevor Jackson brought the heat up a notch from the moment he entered on stage. As if he hadn’t already mesmerized the crowd with his performance, later in the set he jumped the barricade and joined the audience for part of his performance, exciting the crowd with the surprise visit. With how well known he is, it was refreshing to see how much he trusted his audience and rewarded them with his up-close presence.
Before the man of the night came out, a crew set up three giant picture frames as props on stage – perhaps as a nod to his affinity for trilogies? The setup had a nice framing effect of the three musical elements on stage: the DJ, the guitarist, and Bellinger himself. Bellinger has such a rich discography to pull from, and he made great use of it when executing his setlist. Starting off the night with “Obsession,” a track from his latest album, 1(800)HIT-EAZY: Line 2, he weaved his way through his discography, performing songs from his discography as early as The Rebirth.
Initially when I saw that Bellinger was coming to New Haven to perform at the local dance club/small concerts venue, I admit that I was a little perplexed, considering how big of a name he is. After seeing what the team did with the show, I’m beginning to understand the decision to choose a smaller venue in order to create an intimate version of a tour stop. From the get-go fans had connected with Bellinger, matching his energy and singing the verses word-for-word, even on tracks that were only recently released. Until the very end he had his audience enthralled. It truly was a treat to watch an artist who has perfected his craft early in his career, and yet he will continue to soar. Not even the sky is the limit for Eric Bellinger.
I saw Show Me the Body at Warehouse live this weekend, February 19th.
Show Me the Body believes in the DIY ethos. They’ve built their own record label, a recording studio, and community outreach programs through their CORPUS community. Their sound is also made from the ground up. A drum, bass, banjo fiddle punk trio is unique enough, but each member further contorts their instrument into something distorted, angular, and monolithic and almost unrecognizable. Unlike some bands that wield massive noise haphazardly, SMtB expertly allows for some quiet and empty space that allows their sonic pummeling to maintain its punch the whole show. Most of their songs have a rich dynamic range from quiet and slow to fast and loud that keeps the listener on a steady rise in energy culminating in the band thrashing around the stage.
The energy on stage was matched in the pit. This is not the first time I’ve seen SMtB pull a passionate crowd of young punks to the show. Given their surprising sound, it is at first glance surprising their innovative sound has found so many eager ears. That would be to mistake their singular sound for an insular sound, while SMtB has an inclusive message and sound. They wield their noise for the disenfranchised with their charged lyrics. Both times I’ve seen the band, they’ve created a lineup of punk, hip-hop, and metal bands in support. This created a great pit with all the angry young people in town, which was special.
Show Me the Body is defining their own space in the punk sound while generating the sense of solidarity and community the genre is about. See them some time on their busy touring schedule!
Margo Price is a singer/songwriter out of Nashville. That’s the short description I gave people when they asked me who I saw play at White Oak Music Hall on February 2nd. It’s true that Margo Price has recorded at the Grand Ole Opry, but her sound is too wide-ranging for the Music City label to convey.
So here’s the long-form description.
I saw Margo Price touring behind her most recent album, “Strays,” the product of a mushroom trip and collaborations with songstress Sharon Van Etten, indie pop group Lucius, and Tom Petty guitarist Mike Campbell. A formula that hints at the album’s expansive sound: there’s a grandness to the textures and themes that will even catch the ear of listeners who “hate country music.”
The sound was big live, too. Her backing band, The Pricetags, kept their sound guy busy mixing and tuning a whole host of guitars in between songs. There were five guitars on stage at times: a bass and a combination of acoustics and electrics. All this shredding didn’t drown out Price in the least; it just set the scene at a necessary scale for her singing. Her voice was majestic, despairing, wistful, or spiteful as the song or line or word demanded. It all swirled together for a tempest of a show ranging from wet-eyed ballads to thunderous rockers.
This nuance is lost in classifying the show as country. It doesn’t work to say she’s a country artist gone rock, either. The crowd had more cowboy boots than Doc Martens. Even beyond the lines about Tennessee, tequila, and farms, Margo Price works with the same core themes as other country artists. Margo Price drives the lonesome, ornery, and mean country highways but with a rockin’ restlessness and a sexiness.
You could probably call it cosmic American music or some other made-up word, but I’ll end by saying that she’s a country artist who can (and if you’re as lucky as me, will) hop on the drums for a cover of Elvis Costello’s pump it up at the end of the set.
I went into P1Harmony’s January 26th show having only heard a few of their songs and been to one kpop show before. When I got to the show, there was a long line to enter with tons of fans lined up, excited for the coming concert. Employees of the venue handed out photo cards of the band members on the way in, a nice touch to give concert-goers a physical souvenir beyond photos and videos. 713 Music Hall is a very open venue and the floor GA had a great view of the stage.
The show began with P1Harmony coming out onto an elevated platform on the stage with matching outfits after a video introduction. They began with the high energy track “Do It Like This,” performing with smooth choreography and strong group chemistry.
P1Harmony truly facilitated audience engagement with many breaks in the set to talk to the crowd and make sure that everyone was enjoying the show. This type of structure is common in kpop performances, but is not often seen to this extent in American concerts. Every few songs, the band talked directly to the audience, which made the show feel personal, even for people like me who had not followed the band in the past. The band’s chemistry and humor really showed through in these breaks.
One of the most energetic tracks of the night was “Back Down,” a song that I had been listening to before the show. It’s expression of confidence showcased the power of the group and got the crowd moving.
Another unique element of the show (as compared to American concerts), was the use of video interludes. Some of them were music videos, used during breaks, but the longest video was of the group playing a game that involved members being challenged to do different things like dances. The video had a very silly and campy tone that made for a fun and lighthearted break from the show.
The band also broke off into solo stages that showcased each member’s abilities. The highlight of the solo stage section for me was a unit of Soul, Keeho, and Jiung covering Michael Jackson’s “Love Never Felt So Good.” Beginning with a quick tribute to MJ’s style and dancing, the song exuded a confident and happy energy that enveloped the audience. There was also an interesting segment with two of the group’s members rapping over the beat for Kanye West’s song “Black Skinhead.”
Later in the show, P1Harmony played their, as of now, unreleased track “Secret Sauce,” debuting it for the audience. The song talks about the ingredients that make the band work well together and fuse them as a group.
At the end of the show, the band came back for encore and said goodbyes and thank yous to the audience, showing a deep thankfulness for the audience engagement throughout the concert and with their music and promising to return to Houston soon. As seems to be the norm for kpop groups, they returned to the stage wearing their tour merch, which no doubt inspired some audience members to purchase some for themselves. Even after their encore and goodbyes, P1Harmony came back and played more songs.
Although I did not know much of their music in advance of the show, P1Harmony was a great and energetic live act that kept my attention and enjoyment throughout their performance.
As stated earlier, the set is not the same every night, Swift includes two “surprise songs,” which are often deeper cuts from her catalog. At this show, she played “A Place in This World” on guitar from her self-titled debut album. Swift followed with “Today Was a Fairytale,” played live for the first time since 2013 on piano. These songs felt particularly meaningful as Swift played alone, accompanying herself, on a bare stage without the visual spectacle of most of her performance. The surprise song section culminated with her famous stage dive, where Swift dives head first into an opening on the stage with video that makes it appear as if she is swimming through the runway, before ending with a selection of songs from “Midnights.”
Taylor Swift is not only one of the most well-known artists of this generation, but also an all-time great live performer. Everything, from the vocals to the visuals and the extra touches, like coordinated lights in the audience given on entry, came together to create something truly memorable. Having last toured for “Reputation,” this tour is the first tour for four of Swift’s ten studio albums. Swift spoke about her excitement to bring those albums to her fans in-person throughout the show, but the real testament to this desire to perform for the people who have been affected by her music was her constant look of joy throughout the show. During the whole performance, Swift’s face was filled with genuine delight that easily transferred to the audience. For around three hours, Taylor Swift provided an escape from the issues of daily life and into the world created by her music for thousands of fans.
The sound was big live, too. Her backing band, The Pricetags, kept their sound guy busy mixing and tuning a whole host of guitars in between songs. There were five guitars on stage at times: a bass and a combination of acoustics and electrics. All this shredding didn’t drown out Price in the least; it just set the scene at a necessary scale for her singing. Her voice was majestic, despairing, wistful, or spiteful as the song or line or word demanded. It all swirled together for a tempest of a show ranging from wet-eyed ballads to thunderous rockers.
I went into P1Harmony’s January 26th show having only heard a few of their songs and been to one kpop show before. When I got to the show, there was a long line to enter with tons of fans lined up, excited for the coming concert. Employees of the venue handed out photo cards of the band members on the way in, a nice touch to give concert-goers a physical souvenir beyond photos and videos. 713 Music Hall is a very open venue and the floor GA had a great view of the stage.
The band also broke off into solo stages that showcased each member’s abilities. The highlight of the solo stage section for me was a unit of Soul, Keeho, and Jiung covering Michael Jackson’s “Love Never Felt So Good.” Beginning with a quick tribute to MJ’s style and dancing, the song exuded a confident and happy energy that enveloped the audience. There was also an interesting segment with two of the group’s members rapping over the beat for Kanye West’s song “Black Skinhead.”