Photos by Nadine Ordaz. Review by Sophia Risin & Kelsey McIvor
On the night of March 5th at the Fox Theater, Arlo Parks took the stage, and transformed it into an explosive expression of hope and community. The London-based artist is constantly pushing the bounds of genre, with a musical sound that can only be described as R&B with rock guitars.
Captivating an international audience with her first soft bedroom pop EP, Super Sad Generation, in 2019, Parks’ candor and rawness continues to shine in her newest 2023 album, My Soft Machine. Parks has an uncanny ability to completely enrapture an audience, and even in dark serious confessional moments about her struggles with mental health, creating a space for collective contemplation that leaves one with a sense of awe and gratitude.
Opening on this tour was Chloe George, an Oakland-based musician pushing the bounds of pop music in a direction that we are more than excited to see the genre venture into. With a fairly paired down band of only George and a multi-instrumentalist playing both guitar and keys, the performance still took on a life of its own, and the entire crowd got into it, swaying and dancing together.
After her stellar performance, whispers soared through the crowd speculating about Parks and the upcoming performance. All worries were completely surrendered once she emerged on stage, leaving us with a sense that truly this is Arlo Parks’ world, and we all just have the pleasure of living in it.
Parks’ quiet intensity unwaveringly shined from the beginning to end of the show. Opening with “Bruiseless”, the starting track of her sophomore album, Parks’ diaristic approach to bedroom pop was immediately established with the song’s spoken-word first line: “I wish I was bruiseless / Almost everyone that I love has been abused / And I am included.” This level of vulnerability is the foundation of Parks’ exquisite lyricism, a myriad of acute observations and parallels to create true poetry.
Although her iconic red-shaded close cut and baggy clothes remained the same, it was clear Parks had found a whole new energy of calm yet cathartic self-reflection. Her hits “Caroline” and “Eugene” let the audience carry the choruses as Parks screamed for us to “blow the roof off the place.”
Parks’ “Dog Rose,” an ode to Parks’ first time (and love) in New York City, depicts the lustful obsession of a crush “and wanting to know all of them.” Parks again demonstrated her ability of lulling the crowd into a meditative state before swelling into an energized instrumental break for textural contrast with the words: “I wanna belong to you.”
Parks kept the energy with a surprisingly lively rendition of “Pegasus,” the delicate acoustic song featuring Phoebe Bridgers on her sophomore album turned rock pop live. With spatial harmony and beautiful soft lighting, she finished with “Cause I need love like a body needs sugar / I need love.” Parks’ band was given the space in this track to truly demonstrate their versatility as they layered the electronic elements of the original with live percussive elements to mirror Parks’ dubbed harmonies.
“Too Good,” which Parks called “the most danceable of the Arlo Parks’ catalog — which isn’t saying much”, was my personal favorite performance of the night. Supported by prerecorded harmonies, Parks beautifully engaged with the packed Fox theater, constantly running from side to side to ensure she could serenade each member at the barricade as the entire theater sang “I’m too good to you” with her.
“Black Dog” and “Hope” kept the romance alive but not for a person — for herself.
Her characterization of her own “box of suffering (and) a dark space” evokes a profound sense of togetherness and warmth as she weaves together her memories of loneliness and despair into a blanket of blithe resilience to find the good in the midst of so much hardship. “Looking for light and finding a hole where there shouldn’t be one / I cannot communicate the depth of this feeling.” The strength to get through this hopelessness is one that Parks explores constantly in an attempt to not only raise awareness about the ongoing mental health crisis, but to motivate others to seek help and find ways to cope. After all, Parks stated her message of the night to be just that: hope.
“We all have scars, I know it’s hard / You’re not alone.”
Parks characterized her own relentless desire to feel better but in reality having to “pretend that I’m fine when really I’m crushed” in “Sophie.” Despite self-doubt and anxiety that affects so many, Parks emphasizes the importance of pushing through dark times and thoughts, even grabbing her guitar to jam alongside her band to invigorate the performance.
Overall, the bedroom pop soundscape was simple and relatively recursive, keeping all attention on Parks’ storytelling. The set closed with “Devotion” and “Softly,” paying tribute to her 90s rock inspirations The Smashing Pumpkins and Deftones as Parks left the theater with a “see you soon.”
In an industry that is so male dominated, having a young black queer musician take the stage and kill it is a refreshing sign about the future of music, and I cannot wait to see what is next for Parks.
