CLAIRO
Kemba Live - March 3, 2022
March 10, 2022
From the first day I heard Clairo over three years ago I have been waiting for the moment I could see her live. From “Amoeba” on the piano to the magnificent contributions of the wind section to Claire shedding a tear during “Blouse”, I was grateful to be in the crowd for this last minute addition to the sling tour.
Although we heard a sniffle or two, Claire plus her killer six-piece band played all the things with none of the frills. It was outstanding.
Her most recent work with Jack Antonoff on Sling prompted a shift in her overall style so the tracks she played from Immunity fell in similar fashion with the more classic sounds from Sling. I fell in love with Clairo because of Immunity, but the subtle shift from its original smooth and synthetic glide to Sling's more organic, traditional sounds was pleasantly seamless and very well done.
She started with a few tracks from Sling: “Bambi”, “Zinnias”, “Wade”. She followed these with two tracks from Immunity including “North” and a long-awaited, bucket list track for me, “Bags.”
I was especially moved that she played “Harbor” and “Impossible” back to back, as these are my respective sad girl songs on both Clairo LP’s. Then I heard a couple more bucket list tracks, including “Softly” (if you haven’t listened, this is a time capsule song for me) and “Blouse.”
Arlo Parks, who opened with a delightful set, reappeared to accompany Claire for “Blouse.” They sang sans band–Claire gently strumming and then sniffing back tears as the audience picked up the words when the infection kept her from singing. Arlo put an arm around Claire and as we all finished up the song together, she said “Sorry, that’s just never happened to me before.” There were a lot of amazing first’s for both of us that night.
Then we got to hear a remainder of Sling tracks, including “Just for Today”, “Little Changes” (incredible), “Patridge”, “Nomad” (new and unreleased I think), “Reaper”, and “Joanie.”
The piano riff from “Amoeba” began and that was another “Holy shit this is very surreal” moment.
I (clearly) was very taken aback by the impact of seeing Claire finally–someone I’d so deeply admired, and listened to on a daily basis, for three years! As I watched and listened, I marveled at how this show, happening then right in front of me, could hold several years worth of memories. How I listened over and over again to all of these songs desperately seeking camaraderie—and now re-living years worth of visceral memories in a matter of hours and a 20 song setlist.
The end of the set gave us a delicate rendition of “Management” followed by “Pretty Girl” which left “Sofia” for the closer, a sweet nod to Immunity.
For some (dumb) reason I thought the Sling tracks wouldn’t fare as well in a live setting as the Immunity ones, when they were all perfect in actuality. This is now my formal request for Clairo to record an Immunity long pond session.
Concerts make me think very existentially, because I like to think when I’m old and miserable I’ll have these moments to think back on. And I always think about what Clairo (or any artist of interest to me) will be to my niece–and will she just absolutely detest everything I love? Will she take to the mixtapes I am bound to make her?
If there is an album I do think Marcella should be listening to, it’s Sling. It holds a valuable lot of lessons for anyone coming of age and dealing with the very monumental realization that at some point you may have to care for someone other than yourself. It’s daunting. Sling makes it tolerable–something to look forward to, even.
The several year wait to see Clairo was ultimately worth it, and lucky enough for me, Clairo and crew are making their way back to Ohio in July. Hearing a song live quite impacts the way I hear it afterwards, so I look forward to the slew of new (hopefully less painful lol) memories I’ll have to relive during Cleveland’s set.
Until then, xx.
New year, new Saturday’s playlist!!!
