Following the release of Kali Uchis’ debut album, Isolation, the on-the-rise vocalist is selling out venue after venue. Lucky for me, I got to check out the New York concert on October 12th, and boy was it a show to remember.
Since the immediate success of her album Isolation, anticipation for the In Your Dreams tour has been incredibly high. I mean, with insane features like Tyler The Creator, The Gorillaz and more on her debut album, what could you expect? The girl delivers.
Upon entering the seemingly never-ending line outside Terminal 5, you could literally feel the energy and excitement for the show to come.
Having seen Kali at a hole-in-the-wall venue for essentially pocket change at this same time last year, I was looking forward to seeing the expansion of fans that Isolation prompted, but I never expected anything like this. The line just kept going and going, all waiting for one thing and one thing only — Kali Uchis.
After some venue exploration and an opening set by Gabriel Garzón-Montano, Kali kicked things off with “Dead to Me,” the perfect dance track to get the crowd going.
It only took one line and a couple dance moves to impress the crowd, evoking immediate cheers from her die-hard fans as well as excitement from Kali newbies and friends along for the ride.
She continued her set with an absolutely epic rendition of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love,” which highlighted Uchis’ insane vocals and crowd captivation skills. The show went on to feature every track off of Isolation, from a stripped back version of “Miami,” to a classic, upbeat performance of “Your Teeth In My Neck.”
Having only recently been discovered by the mainstream, Kali delved deeper into her discography as what seemed like a sort of ‘thank you’ note to her day one fans.
An intimate performance of “Loner” struck the crowd about halfway through the set, captivating all the fans of her debut EP, Por Vida, released in 2015. While the song may be about her hatred of people and preference to be a, well, loner… that didn’t stop the crowd from loving her.
Most memorable to me, however, was the performance of “Killer,” a song which I’ve always loved but established a new found appreciation for upon Kali’s personal explanation of the lyrics.
Narrating her escape from a suffocatingly long-term boyfriend, emotion poured out of her body and soul while she delivered the now ever-more meaningful lyrics.
“Forever is for dreamers (for dreamers)
And it’s foolish to not know you’re a schemer
It’s silly, I think of our unborn children
‘Cause all I’m really thinking about right now
Is how I’ll never know them”
The set closed out with fan-favorite “After The Storm,” and an intimate performance of “Body Language,” leaving the crowd longing for more.
After what seemed like never-ending thunderous applause and screams for the singer’s return back to the stage, Kali finally came back out for an encore.
Taking a different and refreshingly personal approach to an encore, she allowed the crowd to choose what they wanted to hear. With overwhelming requests for “Melting” and “Ridin’ Round,” two tracks off of Por Vida, she delivered both.
Regardless of her band’s vacant knowledge of “Melting,” Kali thrilled the crowd with an acapella version of the track, and left nothing on the table with a booming rock version of “Ridin’ Round.”
Set List:
- Dead to Me
- Never Be Alone
- Tomorrow
- I Feel Love (Donna Summer cover)
- Todos me miran (Gloria Trevi cover)
- Tyrant
- Flight 22
- Feel Like a Fool
- Loner
- Just a Stranger
- Your Teeth in My Neck
- Nuestro planeta
- In My Dreams
- Miami
- Killer
- Gotta Get Up
- After the Storm
- Body Language
Encore:
- Melting (Acapella)
- Ridin’ Round