CLAIRO AT BAYOU MUSIC CENTER IN HOUSTON
Clairo made her much anticipated return to Houston in support of her most recent album, Sling, over the weekend and it was as wonderful as the last time she played here. The only difference being that this time around, it was a much bigger hall than the House of Blues. Despite the much larger venue, Clairo still managed to make it feel as intimate as possible.
She played a twenty plus song set in Houston comprised of much of the Sling record with a few tracks from Immunity as well as her viral hit "Pretty Girl", all of which drew tears and and singing aloud from everyone watching. I loved the sweet moments that included the background visuals made to look like an animated film, with a tiny watercolor painted dog (meant to be hers) on the screen almost looking like she was there in person watching Claire play. There were many points during the show that she was emotional and crying, which made it all the more sweet.
I've been a fan of Clairo for quite some time now, and am amazed at how incredibly varied she is as a performer. There are so many moments during her performance that are gentle and intimate feeling and raw, and yet also during some of the more upbeat songs like “Sofia”, you're instantly screaming the words at the top of your lungs. The set was a perfect mix of everything good that you could want from going to a live show, and both her vocals, as well as the band, were as amazing as the actual recordings sound - with some newer arrangements of older songs like “Alewife” (my favorite song) that has an insanely cool outro that includes a saxophone part among them.
It's hard to not feel a ton of pride watching Claire perform on stage - she is truly one of the most effortlessly charming musicians I've seen. This newer record was much more reserved than her debut, and yet felt so natural watching live.
In support of most of the dates on this tour was also the equally incredible Arlo Parks. Honestly, I could not have put two more perfectly fitting musicians with one another on a tour in my opinion. I had to tell myself to not sing so loud during my time in the photo pit. Arlo rules!
Sling is one of my favorite albums of last year, and I was so happy to be able to see it live this weekend. Clairo is incredible, and so is her band. Don't miss her if she's in your city.