Lizzo
At the top of her set on Tuesday night at Cannery Ballroom, Minneapolis-bred R&B singer and songwriter, rapper, twerk champion and flautist Lizzo told the crowd in the sold-out house that she was going to bring the Met Gala to Nashville. Indeed, she was still wearing the pink, feathery Marc Jacobs coat that was part of her ensemble for the Gala, the premiere annual event for celebrity fashion-watching that took place the night before. There were other couture elements to note on Tuesday: Lizzo also topped the sparkling costume beneath the coat with a white cowboy hat, an endearing bit of Nashville flair that doubled as a nod to The Yeehaw Agenda. I’ve never partied at the Met, and I imagine most of the folks who packed the Cannery haven’t, either. But you’d be hard-pressed to convince me that the Gala is in any way able to overshadow a Lizzo show.
Tayla Parx
Unfortunately, I arrived just after opener Tayla Parx finished. A friend of a friend reported going into the show with no idea who Parx was, but was mightily impressed by her stage presence and the string of pop hits she’s written or co-written for others. Parx is a multi-dimensional artist — the 25-year-old is a seasoned actor and a skilled dancer who also has writing credits on multiple hit singles by, among others, Ariana Grande (see “Thank U, Next” and “7 Rings”). Somehow she’s also made time to release and tour behind her own records, including 2018’s We Need to Talk. It’s tough to imagine someone in a better position to be a breakout star.
I tasked myself with finding sweet spot in Cannery’s traditionally awkward space. The audience bubbled over with an excitement rarely seen at your typical local indie rock show. Around 9 p.m., the woman of the hour emerged onstage from a thick cloud of fog to an enthusiastic roar that seemed ready to blow the doors off the place. It felt like an arena show. Backed by the multitalented DJ and rapper Sophia Eris and flanked by her Big Girls dance crew, Lizzo commanded both the crowd and her music — a distinctive whirlwind that includes soulful, Prince-esque R&B, the sexual frankness and raucous beats of New Orleans bounce and lots more — in a way that suggests she’s more than ready for much, much bigger stages.
Lizzo
The show delivered about as much hype energy as one could possibly ask for on a Tuesday night, and the energy of the audience and the performers, the spectacle of the the production (no, Missy Elliott didn’t come by to guest on body-positive twerk anthem “Tempo,” but Bebe Rexha did drop in) and the sing-alongs to pretty much every song all contributed. The element of persistent, insistent advocacy for respect for your emotions and self-care — the real thing, not what’s offered by brands that want to make a buck off of you indulging yourself — gives you a clearer picture of what motivates Lizzo’s burgeoning legion of fans. It’s apparent in the beautiful nude portrait on the cover of Cuz I Love You. It’s apparent in the songs she played, from longtime fan-fave “En Love” to Cuz I Love You standout “Soulmate” to her top-shelf 2018 single “Truth Hurts.” It was also a key element of her increasingly impassioned between-song messages, delivered like secular sermons.
“I was sick as fuck, I couldn’t talk, I didn’t know if I was prepared to perform and I started beating myself up,” she said, describing a recent bad day during one break. “I was like: ‘Damn, Lizzo, you’re not gonna sing good, you don’t even look good, they’re going to be able to tell, you’re not good enough.’ … I picked my ass back up and I got on that God-damned stage and did what I had to do! That is why we do the self-care, that is why we do the work, because at the bottom of all the bullshit that happens to you, you will have that work to remind you who the fuck you are!”
Lizzo
There was a brief interlude wherein The Big Girls expertly twerked to queen of bounce Big Freedia’s “Karaoke,” breaking up the emotional intensity. There was a point, just before “Good as Hell,” when Lizzo seemed to be testing the waters of a 2020 presidential bid, asking the Nashville crowd whether she had our vote. There were also a couple of pretty dope flute solos.
But what seems like it will last the longest is the way that Lizzo’s momentum spilled off the stage and out the door with the surging crowd, who had just shouted along with “Juice,” the ’80s-soul-inspired banger at the end of the encore. She’s already scheduled to come back to Nashville this fall, headlining the Ryman — which still feels a little small, considering the power of her colossal persona and how strongly fans seem to respond to her. It’s easy to picture her leading a full-scale Beyoncé- or Stevie-Wonder-grade arena show in the years to come, and I hope to be there for it.
See our slideshow for more photos.
