It’s been a while since I’ve shared my thoughts on a concert. I’ve seen a lot in the past few years. Boygenius, Red Hot Chili Peppers, JID, Little Simz, Run The Jewels, Paramore, and Fall Out Boy to name a few. I love all of those artists, their art, and their accolades. But three nights ago I saw a show that truly changed my perception of a concert and how they can operate.
I got into Lizzy McAlpine last year or the end of the year prior. I got into her from Ryan Lerman (who played guitar on ‘Older’ for a track) who is a host on the YouTube Series Dead Wax. He kept mentioning her name, and I eventually caved in after hearing all of his praise, and checked out “Pancakes for Dinner”. From there, I got into her sophomore album, “five seconds flat”, and fell in love with the transparency and vulnerability of the lyrics coupled with the fascinating instrumentation and arrangement. On an impulsive decision, I decided to catch her on last tour at Terminal 5 in NYC, and it was great. It felt intimate and cozy like her music and I wasn’t sure if it’d get more intimate than that. I was very wrong.
Her show three nights at the Radio City Music Hall was nothing short of incredible. It felt like the crowd was looking at an intimate performance between friends sitting on couches and piano benches. As if it was a record being cut live in front of our eyes. Lizzy’s vocals cut thru the instrumentation, yet it sat pleasantly with them. In response to the album, “older”, being more stripped back than her last work, she fleshed out the songs and really let each track blossom. The live performance felt like the actualization of her album, as in, the live version sounds like what the album should have been. Everything was arranged beautifully and I sat there in shock. I could recognize each track from the album, but the live arrangements just had more to them.
The entire band was pristine. I couldn’t find a wrong note if I tried, and even with Lizzy forgetting some lyrics to “vortex” for a brief moment, I remained enthralled the entire time. Her forgetting the lyrics just added to the charm of the album. In this setting, I really got to experience these lyrics in a raw manner. It felt like she was singing each word with such passion and intention, each word was a knife cutting thru the air as she glided between topics of self doubt, fear of growing up, and heartache.
She prefaced the show by saying she wanted this show to be more intimate and better for her health. I had heard her making this claim prior to the tour and had a brief moment where I was concerned whether the quality of the performance would be hindered by a more intimate approach, or if the lack of opener would be a problem. But she absolutely surpassed expectations and crushed it.
Lizzy McAlpine is an artist you have to see live. There just isn’t a better way to experience her music. In some cases, the artist live doesn’t live up to the expectations set by the record. Lizzy is a rare artist where the live performance surpasses an already incredible piece of art which is the recorded album.
Memories In Wax 
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