Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing Laufey in concert at 713 Music Hall. The concert venue was very well-suited to her jazzy/classical music style due to how intimate it felt. It almost felt like watching a famous crooner in a speakeasy. The stage and lighting designs were incredibly beautiful while being a bit minimalist. The audio for the concert was also incredible; her vocals were crystal clear, and her band and the quartet, although not the main focal point, were not buried, and you could hear each individual part.
To start the concert, her band and the quartet walk on and begin to play an introduction while the lights change behind them. After a few moments, Laufey runs in and begins singing her song ‘While You Were Sleeping’, which is such a beautiful song about falling in love. The warmth and beauty of her voice are incredibly enchanting; it feels so nostalgic while also feeling incredibly modern. I loved her voice before hearing it live, and now I love it even more.
After her first song, she tells us that she snuck into the venue through a car and saw everyone standing in line. She said, ‘It took all of me not to roll down the window and be like ‘Hi!’ but I didn’t want to screw up the line either, so Hi! Here I am!’ She also apologized for the late start, which was caused by audience members getting scammed, so she wanted to make sure they were all able to come in to enjoy the concert. I thought that was incredibly sweet of her to look out for her fans that way; not many artists would go out of their way to help with this type of issue. Laufey then says, ‘This song is for you,’ and begins the intro of ‘Valentine’.
After ‘Valentine’, she does a 180 and sings ‘Second Best’, which is an incredibly heart-breaking song about being in love with someone who clearly loves their ex more. She moves onto ‘Dreamer’, which is a more uplifting and playful song about romanticizing her life while giving up on romance. During this song, she dances around stage playfully; it was adorable and super endearing. This song, in particular, reminded me of old Jazz standards and gave me Ella Fitzgerald vibes as well. After finishing up her song ‘Falling Behind’, she introduces her band: Maverick on drums, Dario on bass, Heather on keys, Ryland on multiple instruments, and Michelle leading the string quartet. Her band and the quartet that played with her were incredible; each time they vamped or had solos to fill in time, it was breathtaking.
During both ‘Beautiful Stranger’ and the famous jazz standard ‘I Wish You Love’, she plays her cello alongside the band. She played beautifully, and her technique really showcased her classical roots. The next few songs, ‘Promise’, ‘Like The Movies’, and ‘Nocturne’, she shows off her piano skills as well. It’s so admirable watching her switch from instrument to instrument throughout her set, especially with how rare it is for an artist to be this fluent on so many instruments.
While introducing ‘Let You Break My Heart Again’, she talks about how she dreamt about adding a full orchestra to her songs and how grateful she was to be able to work with orchestras to bring her songs to life. While she didn’t have a full orchestra that night, the arrangement they did definitely encapsulated the sound of the original. As a classical musician, it is really beautiful to see what she is doing, and I really hope that more artists do the same. I hope that one day she’ll come back to Houston and play with our symphony. If that happens, I would definitely be first in line for that ticket.
After ‘Let You Break My Heart Again’ and ‘California and Me’, she sang her newest single, ‘Goddess’. It is a beautiful song about dealing with the heartache of someone falling in love with the idea of you, but not actually with you. The emotion flowed through as she sang through the song and hit its peak when she and her band crescendoed into the last verse. It was beautiful and almost ethereal.
The next few songs on her set are ‘Fragile’ and ‘Bewitched’, which are both incredibly breathtaking love songs about the feeling of vulnerability when falling in love and enjoying it. She then tells us she has a surprise for us; the audience yelled ‘Junia!’ (Laufey’s sister) and Laufey replied that it wasn’t her, but something more exciting. She introduces her new song, ‘Bored’, by explaining what inspired it, which was her leaving a relationship because she was simply bored of her lover who was too vain and uninteresting. Once she finishes, she says that it will be released this Friday, the 26th.
After Laufey and her band played a beautiful performance of her song ‘Lovesick’, she says, ‘You’ve been so amazing; truly this is always such a warm crowd, I feel like I was just here yesterday. I just want to thank you so much for coming and supporting me. This really is a dream come true and every time I look out into the audience, I just can’t believe my life, so thank you so much. We have one more song for you; I think you’ll like it!’ After this short monologue, Laufey and her band begin to play arguably her most famous song at the moment, ‘From The Start’. As the song progresses, she actually does bring Junia out, and instead of Laufey scatting, Junia plays a violin rendition of it. Once Laufey finishes the song’s lyrical content, she runs off, and Junia continues dazzling on the violin until it is her time to run off.
Although she said she only had one song left, she did do another song for her encore. The particular song she chose was ‘Letter To My 13 Year Old Self’, which she says is meant to be a hug to her younger self while outlining all the things she thought were a detriment to her that ended up being the reasons she does what she does now. She also says that she wrote the song as a form of encouragement for her fans as well to chase their dreams. It was such a beautiful and intimate way of ending the concert. I think it was the perfect choice from her discography; a beautifully deep and inspiring song that felt like a deep breath after all the exciting moments from the earlier parts of her set.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed her concert. I really cannot wait to hear more music and see more shows with her in it. It was such a rollercoaster of emotions, but it was so distinct and beautiful. She truly is one of a kind and has created her own niche within the pop scene.
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