The following story was written by a student on the staff of The Jaguar Times as part of Hilliard Bradley High School’s Journalism Production course.
by Lauren Dame
Arts, Style, and Beauty Editor
On March 3, 2022, I had the privilege of seeing yet another live show. I attended one of Clairo’s many shows of her tour, and it was a concert like no other. Held at recently renamed KEMBA Live in Downtown Columbus, it was the closest I have ever been to the stage at a concert.
With Clairo being an artist of slower songs, I was interested to see what a general admission concert with no jumping and little screaming would be like. I went with my best friends Grace Ahrens and Carly Love, and we didn’t know what to expect. We hadn’t anticipated being so close to the front- we didn’t really care how close we were at this concert.
Opener Arlo Parks, in my opinion, was one of the best opening acts that I’ve seen. With a similar laid-back vibe to Clairo, Parks had a beautiful voice and was a great performer. A few songs into Clairo’s set, Arlo Parks joined Clairo for a song and you could tell that they were good friends. It is always interesting to see how the opening act and main act interact, and the two had great chemistry.
Fans of concerts have different ideas of how a crowd should act during slower sets. I believe that when it’s a slower set that it often means the songs are sad, and that was the case for Clairo. In this specific setting, fans should treat the artist with respect, and try not to yell at the artist. Carly Love (11) says, “I think people should sway to her music and sing along if they want to be respectful to her speaking.” It is best as a member of the crowd to just keep yourself chill and not make a fool out of yourself. Love continues, “a lot of people interrupted her which was rude to the other people in the crowd but mostly her.” To be an artist standing up on a stage having people interrupt you doesn’t sound enjoyable- it’s disrespectful.
My favorite part of the concert were the last two songs that Clairo sang, which included “Pretty Girl” and “Sofia.” These are popular songs of Clairo’s, and the energy from the crowd was great (and the right kind of energy) as everyone knew the words and sang along. Carly Love said that her “favorite part was the band.” She finds is fascinating “how much they have rehearsed to know exactly what to do and when.” Clairo and Arlo Park’s team deserve plenty of props since it takes so much for them to go from city to city multiple times a week and perform the same set.
Grace Ahrens (11) says, “My favorite part of the set was actually the lights. With a lot of bigger artists there isn’t a need for fancy sets, but smaller artists almost create a show or a view for the audience to look at.” A visually appealing show is always important, but even more important for smaller venues. Ahrens ends by saying, “Clairo has many different light fixtures. Each time a different member of the band was the focus point, the lights forced one to focus on them and connect with that one member instead of letting the audience’s eyes wander.” Clairo did not fail to succeed in the light department, that’s for sure.
With this being my first laid-back concert, my expectations of it actually being laid-back were not successful- the crowd should have been more calm and much more respectful. Clairo had a beautiful voice and all it seemed that she wanted to do was have a night of singing her songs with her fans. However, this was a concert of for the books as the people that you go to the concert with always add the extra aspect of fun.