Before the show, Lucy Dacus’ home videos played on the screen above the empty stage. The crowd buzzed with anticipation as glimpses of her life flashed before us. Memories of friends, family, travel and past performances, all presented to us in a neat sequence. Her album Home Video gives the same feelings as watching the excerpt of her life before us. Sweet, raw, full of love and deeply personal. The album itself is largely autobiographical, written after Dacus had sorted through and typed up her childhood journals, but despite the specificity of the songs, the beautiful lyrics and coming-of-age feel make it something anyone can relate to.
It’s these elements, paired with Dacus’ personality that made the concert what it was. Despite the large venue and crowd, the show had an intimate feel, almost as if she was singing directly to you. When she spoke, it seemed as if she was genuinely interested in connecting with her audience. From telling us what was in her mug (“Throat Coat tea!”), to accepting flowers and telling the crowd how much she loves hearing words she has written being sung back to her, she spoke as if we were all old friends.
She came onstage in a colorful sweater and an electric guitar, two things that I feel like normally juxtapose each other, but somehow worked well on her. This can also be applied to Dacus’ overall music style, with songs like “VBS” that start soft and slow and eventually crescendo into a Slayer-inspired guitar section. Lucy’s voice is lush, ethereal and calm while the guitars in her songs offset that by being loud, distorted and energetic. Overall, there was a wide range of sounds throughout the whole show; from the mechanical robot voice that makes up “Partner in Crime,” to the adorable singalong style “Going Going Gone.” Some songs, like “Brando,” were more upbeat and fun while others like “Please Stay” and “Thumbs” had the whole audience (including myself) in tears. Dacus herself even asked if we truly wanted to hear “Please Stay,” saying that sometimes it and “Thumbs” are extremely hard to sing due to their deeply sad and personal subjects. Despite the heartache surrounding them, these songs were some of the most beautiful of the night. The crowd stayed respectfully silent while they were playing, and throughout the room, you could see the pain being felt and subsequently shared. People hugging, holding hands and resting heads on shoulders, being led through their pain by Lucy, connected to her and each other through those feelings.
The overall atmosphere of the venue left little to be desired, and the lighting was just enough to add to the show without being too distracting or overbearing. On the screen behind the band, small, animated visuals would play based on the song or album. Some songs like “Brando” or “Thumbs” got individual animations (a couple dancing and a pair of holding hands, respectively), while others had animations corresponding to which one of Dacus’ three albums they were on (either Home Video, Historian, or No Burden). She also played three songs that were not on any of her albums and therefore did not have animations. Her song “Kissing Lessons” was accompanied by its music video, while her covers of “Home Again” by Carole King and “Believe” by Cher had simple colored backgrounds.
For many, the end of a concert is sad, a reminder that they will soon have to leave a place of music and magic and reenter the real world. However, the end of this concert was my favorite part. It began with Lucy playing one of her biggest hits (and a personal favorite of mine), “Night Shift.” The song in its entirety is amazing but the best part is the end, especially when being sung joyously with a room full of other people. After it finished, she waved her goodbyes, grabbed her mug of tea and walked offstage. It had barely been a few seconds before the crowd started to chant feverishly: “One more song! One more song!” To my surprise, she obliged and came out once more to give us an incredible performance of Cher’s “Believe” (accompanied by a fabulous disco ball). I thought that was the end, but Lucy wasn’t finished yet. She told us about how she had secretly performed “Thumbs” for a year and a half before its release. She asked us to stop recording and put away our phones so she could do the same with her newest unreleased song. What followed was an incredibly heartfelt and beautiful performance, just Lucy, her guitar and the poetic lyrics of her secret song. This final experience was an amazing way to end the night and proved that Dacus’ next release will be as equally great, if not better, than her previous works.
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