A glimmering yellow beam of light shone upon the woman with golden hair, who smiled at the people pressed up against the barricade: as Alice Phoebe Lou placed her guitar strap around her head, her dedicated fans held up artwork, vinyl, and merch for her to sign. The German singer-songwriter has gradually built a following since 2013, and serving as the opener for Clairo’s “Charm Tour” may push her into newfound stardom.
Lou addressed the crowd with some banter about it being their second show of the three-night residency at Roadrunner. When a couple of fans shouted out how excited they were to see her, Lou giggled before she and her band opened the show with “Touch.”
“I’ve been lonely since I woke up / I wanna touch / No it’s never enough / I heard his voice then had a cry / Made me remember all the reasons why.”
Those in the crowd who knew the sweet timbre of Lou’s voice grinned and swayed to the siren song she cast upon the room. The majority of people who had never heard of her gazed like a deer in headlights discovering that this tour would be graced by not one, but two vocal goddesses.
In between songs, Lou thanked the audience for their applause. “I want to wish you a happy autumn, or fall as you call it over here.” Unlike many other openers, Lou can seemingly cast a spell over the crowd to draw their attention, because of her warm, embracive stage presence.
However, she cannot take all the credit. In between songs, her band displayed colorful gestures playing progressive and jazzy riffs and licks while staring at each other and smiling. For playing tunes with mostly somber themes, Lou and her four bandmates were seemingly having a blast.
Some highlights of the performance included “Underworld,” a more indie rock-based song that had audience members twirling around. Even when the song stopped abruptly due to a medical emergency in the crowd, Lou and the band picked it right back up without even skipping a beat. The people spilling into the show late would have no idea the show paused moments before.
“Angel,” the opening track off of Lou’s 2023 album “Shelter,” felt like getting caught in a spotlight; the tune opens with a vocal intro followed by single soft drums hits and delicate piano jabs.
“Nothing that I see is real / It’s all floating, unpredictable.”
Following the first verse, “Angel” leads into a beautiful chorus where Lou displays one of her greatest vocal performances by holding long winning notes on the word “me,” accompanied by a mind-numbing guitar note that rings out with her voice.
“I’ve been hiding for quite some time / I don’t have to have a purpose, I just wanna play / Turn yourself back on / Show me how you’ve longed for me, for me.”
For those who didn’t recognize Lou by appearance or the rest of her set, the closing song, “Witches,” her most popular song, jolted some of the audience into excitement. Some people cheered and danced as Lou sang her heart out, and if the crowd wasn’t sold before, they were by the end of her set. The whole room was captivated, jamming out with Lou, whether or not it was their most streamed song or their first time hearing it.
