Arlo Parks played Brooklyn Steel

Arlo Parks wrapped-up her tour in support of last year's great album My Soft Machine with a sold-out show at Brooklyn Steel.

Breaking on to the scene after a string of successful singles, Arlo Parks firmly landed with her wonderful full-length debut, 2021's Collapsed into Sunbeams and doubled-down with last year's follow-up record, her sophomore output My Soft Machine which found her adding new textures to take her sound in new directions while still staying true to her core. Easing into the night with a floating rendition of "Bruiseless" that seamlessly shifted into "Weightless" was a cool and breezy way to start the night with Parks immediately grabbing the energy of the crowd as she shuffled across the stage, doing her damndest to connect with as many people in the audience as possible from the get go, her spirits in high regards as she basked in the glowing light at the end of a long road on tour. Playing in front of a massive screen that dazzled technicolor visuals with high contrasts and saturation only emphasized the performance happening on stage as Arlo decided to leave it all out there for one last show. "I'm gonna need you all to get your energy out on this next one, ok? We're all gonna release it together" Parks proclaimed before she launched into the crowd favorite "Caroline" which had the crowd fully invested and saw a big reaction early on in the night as everyone joined in on a liberating shout-a-long  of "I swear to God I tried!" She took things down a notch for "Impurities," allowing the crowd a moment to catch their breath and soak up the track as her wistful vocals carried across the venue. The treated effects on her voice made her performance mirror the records with pristine precision, recreating everything to an almost startling degree, never missing a beat, and the echoes reverberating to make her sound feel extra full. The track around the mysterious figure "Eugene" followed and once again the crowd roared with excitement, a reaction that was repeated with nearly every song of the night making it nearly impossible to identify an actual fan favorite (although I still think "Caroline" came close to the top), but as things progressed the passion for the tracks "Hurt" and "Too Good" became apparent with the later taking the level of night up to the next height from which it would not drop for the remainder of the night. A real sonic moment, it was flush with purpose and once again saw Parks working the crowd with everything she had left in her body, ready to make this final night one she and the crowd wouldn't soon forget. After dazzling us all with her sweet croon, funky bass lines that married hard grooves with stellar disco beats and slinking melodies, she strapped on a guitar of her own and jammed along with her band, showcasing even more talents that left me wondering where this had been for the whole time leading up to this killer moment. Closing out the main set, she turned the guitar up even further and ripped through the surging "Devotion" bringing even more blown-out sonic textures to her set, giving her maximalist appeal with her hardest rocking song of the night. Setting out with a goal to leave it all on stage was audacious, but by the end of the night Parks had nothing left to prove, her growing legion of fans in a total of elation as she brought forth her distinguished sound for an evening of pure joy and unabashed pleasure.

Set list:

01 "Bruiseless"
02 "Weightless"
03 "Blades"
04 "Caroline"
05 "Impurities"
06 "I’m Sorry"
07 "Eugene"
08 "Dog Rose"
09 "Pegasus"
10 "Hurt"
11 "Too Good"
12 "Black Dog"
13 "Purple Phase"
14" Hope"
15 "Sophie"
16 "Devotion"
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17 "Softly"