A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend Clairo’s Charm tour in Santa Barbara. Seeing that Alice Phoebe Lou was opening, who is one of my top artists, tickets were a necessity for me. I traveled three hours on a bus to Santa Barbara after my 3pm class, arrived at 6pm and was at the concert by seven. Although my experience at the concert was nothing but positive, Clairo was not very pleased with the crowd as a whole.Â
I have a secret to admit to you guys: I’m a setlist spoiler. For every concert I go to, I’ll always look at the setlist beforehand. I do this for two reasons. First, it gets me excited for what’s to come, especially with an artist like Clairo. I was able to see which of her old songs she’d be performing, which I was probably more excited for than the new album. The second reason is to listen to all of the songs before the concert itself, reminding myself of the lyrics so I can sing my heart out when the time comes. I cannot stress enough how fantastic this concert was, I went with one of my closest friends who’s also a huge Clairo fan, the concert was outside on a gorgeous evening. Hearing Alice Phoebe Lou’s “Lover///Over the Moon” in person genuinely changed my life, and Clairo herself glowed out stage with the help of her talented band and gorgeous set design. But, as you probably can tell by the name of this article, Clairo wasn’t feeling the same way.Â
My friend and I’s post-concert trip to In-N-Out partially explained her dismay. We found ourselves surrounded by middle and high schoolers from the surrounding area, those who couldn’t have been fans during Clairo’s peak. I’m not sure if their attendance was due to Clairo being a household name at this point or just an excuse to go out on a Monday, but their ignorance of Clairos work really shined through during the performance.
From the beginning, Clairo tried her best to hype up the crowd. She brought a fan on stage to do backflips, and although this served as a temporary solution, you could tell that even that fan was disappointed by how the crowd’s energy looked from the stage. The crowd didn’t seem to connect with her old stuff, the loudest voices in the crowd being me and my friend. But what really showed Clairo’s dismay was her refusal to play “Sofia”, which I personally was very excited for. After asking the crowd if they even knew her song “4EVER”, which I, at the moment, was astonished that she would even have to ask, she said that she couldn’t play “Sofia” for the crowd she had at hand. Overall, I throughout enjoyed the concert, I just wish Clairo did as much as me.