What a trip it has been for Lizzo. After putting in her time, she reached larger than life moments headlining huge festivals and some of the world's biggest and most famous arenas. Of course, what came next was the ultimate blow to a career. She was accused of being a boss who put her employees in bad positions and took advantage of her rising fame. There's no excuse for those kinds of actions and it is hard to ignore the fact that countless white male musicians have been accused of the same, if not far worse, and their reputations have gone unscathed (if they've been called out at all). While Lizzo may now be on damage control, she's now back on the horse, having un-quit music, and seems poised to make her unabashed return. Based on her stage presence at Irving Plaza, everyone should strap in for what's next. Opening the curtain to her comeback track "Love in Real Life," the Strokes momentum was strong as the upstrokes and beat helped bring the positive vibes to the night from the opening and engaged with the new rock and roll vibes that she seems to be going for on her new songs, but exemplifies in her live show it's almost a dis-service to anyone who has to rely solely on the singles from what's ahead because while the one-two stop is fun on record, the energy that backs it is what makes the track. With a guitar strapped on, she cut loose and ripped away on a sizzling solo to dazzle the small crowd and put everyone on to the fact that she is indeed in her rock era and ready to make sure that everyone is in on the moment. Immediately following it with "Juice," she got the crowd on their feet and ready to rage, the temp bumping and everyone eager to let loose as she continued to wail away on her guitar. Of course the chorus had everyone throwing their hands in the air, but when she cut to "Rumors" the place was ready to bring the chaos. Hitting us hard and dirty, when she shouted out "Black people made rock and roll, yeah," the building went into chaos mode and Lizzo defied expectations by blasting through Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" which was an absolute highlight of the night. Continuing to remind folks of her dazzling ability to bring both the vocal components as well as the stage energy, Lizzo changed her outfit several times throughout the quick set, each time giving us something a little sparklier and shimmering than the last, but when she got to "Break Up Twice" during the set, she teased the ending with a bit of Ms. Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)" to merge the sample and the crowd once again screamed with the utmost satisfaction. As the middle of the set came into form, Lizzo hit us with the back-to-back bangers of "Good as Hell" (which might've had the biggest reaction of the night) and "Cuz I Love You" which sent everyone into sheer euphoria. Attention also must be paid to her all Black and female-presenting band who held it down with their solid grooves and high energy for the entire hour and made sure the pace never died. Dusting off shoulders, checking manicures, and throwing hair over the shoulder, the entire venue was in on the fit/vibe check and everyone was surely looking their best for eight minutes straight as Lizzo confessed to us all about her darkest days and how she's made it out on top. Working up the moment to "Truth Hurts" and "Special," she gave us a final change to make the most of the night before closing it out with "About Damn Time." At just an hour, Lizzo made it count and delivered a set of her biggest and most well-known tunes for a smaller room and devoted and loyal fans. It's hard to tell what could be next for her, but tonight she proved that no matter what, she does indeed have the juice and can deliver what it takes to put on a show that feels special. If only everyone could recognize and appreciate the talent at hand. We'd all be in a much better and more exciting state of mind.
Set list:
02 "Juice"
03 "Rumors" (Elements of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana)
04 "Boys"
05 "Tempo"
06 "Break Up Twice" (Elements of "Doo Wop (That Thing)" by Lauryn Hill)
07 "Good as Hell"
08 "Cuz I Love You"
09 "Play Video"
10 "Still Bad"
11 "Truth Hurts"
12 "Special"
13 "About Damn Time"
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