Indie pop icon beabadoobee is back on the stateside with The Powerlines Tour across North America. While most artists skip Florida, beabadoobee played at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando on Oct. 13. That may still be a five-hour drive from where I live, but I made the trek there and back that day to see her perform. Was it an incredibly long day? Yes. Was it more than worth it? Also, yes!
Everything about the concert was insane, from the extensive setlist to the elaborate set design. Here are some of my favorite things that made the experience so special.
The Setlist
When the setlist was released, I screamed out loud (in a public setting, mind you). Genuinely, I was stunned. She played almost every song from her new album, Pylon, except “Estranged,” “Spark,” and “Despite That.” They were missed, but I understand not every song makes the cut.
I was also so happy to hear songs from earlier in her career, like “Apple Cider,” which got me through all of high school. Listening to the mix of old and new, you can hear how she’s developed as an artist and how her style has changed.
The Set
Words can’t even begin to describe the actual stage and set that she performed on. The band is set up in the middle of a road, presumably a highway. To the side, tall grass fills the rest of the stage. Facing the stage, a pylon tower sits in the background on the left, and a streetlight and payphone are on the right.
Above the audience, power lines are hung across the ceiling, and depending on the track, different lights travel through their wires. The production was insane!
While she stayed in the middle of the stage for most of the show, she climbed onto the pylon for “Powerlines” and sang under the streetlight for “Satellite.” It’s one of the best visual sets I’ve seen from an artist this year, and it contributes to the story Beabadoobee is trying to tell.
‘Pylon’s’ meaning
Throughout the concert, beabadoobee stopped between performances to share blurbs about the songs, how she wrote them, what the lyrics meant to her, and what the collaborators brought to them. She wrote Pylon while touring North America for a previous album.
It was a time of uncertainty, and she found herself longing for home. Days and nights were spent on the road, traveling to new venues. As most of the songs may suggest, she found solace in the pylons on the side of the road. Even if they’re miles apart, they’re connected by power lines and the electricity that travels through them.
While not all of us are touring musicians, I think Pylon taps into a universal feeling. Most of us have experienced a moment in life when we long for something out of reach, whether it’s hundreds of miles away or something you can’t quite name. There’s comfort in imagining that these massive structures that follow you on your travels lead you back to the ones you love or the place that you call home.
Another aspect of Pylon that contributes to the “yearning” factor is how communication exists in a technological age. Yes, while we might be far away, we’re still connected through phone or text. Beabadoobee describes how technology can make you feel disconnected from what’s happening around you.
In an era where social media dominates our lives, it’s refreshing to hear an artist describe how “doomscrolling” affects their life, and how nothing compares to being with your loved ones in the moment.
My Favorite Performance
When I first listened to “Satellite,” I immediately knew it would be one of my favorites. It has a raw, unfiltered emotion. It starts slow and soft, remorseful even, before beabadoobee transitions into the chorus, screaming the lyrics. Throughout the song, she pulls you back and forth between softness and intensity, then ends the track with probably one of the best guitar solos of the year. It’s the perfect conclusion to the thesis that Pylon is.
Hearing this performed live was life-changing. She started the song by singing into the alternative microphone: the payphone on set. It created an intimate, almost intrusive feeling. Audiences watched her have this private conversation, speaking quietly into the payphone, before belting on the side of the highway. Her guitarist absolutely crushed the outro. Seeing this performance live will forever be a highlight for me.
There are so many stories and moments wrapped into Pylon, but at its core, it’s a love letter to what your heart aches for and how distance can indeed make the heart grow fonder. I’m so glad I was able to be in the audience and see these beloved songs in person.
It was awesome that beabadoobee decided to come to Florida (I’m looking at the artists who haven’t been to Florida in years, if ever…) and that we’re now a part of the pylon system that is The Powerlines Tour.
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