Tinashe w/ Blackbear
Showbox SoDo, Seattle, WA
04.08.16
Everything is so sexy, and it seems intentionally so, at a Tinashe live show. The 23-year-old LA songstress, purveyor of the latest in clubby R&B, appears on the strobe-lit Showbox SoDo stage in Seattle accompanied by a perfectly choreographed team of four dancers. Although Tinashe’s voice is stellar, her live show very much revolves around dancing, outfit changes, chiseled abs.
From opener “Ride of Your Life” – the first single of her yet-to-be-released sophomore effort from RCA – and its loungy club vibe, to the slow, slinky, bass-heavy “Party Favors,” Tinashe’s voice is light and sweet, layered over dark, moody beats. While she’s definitely singing, there’s a strong backing track that allows her to concentrate on the dancing portion of the night, and let’s just say she’s no slouch in that department either. With skin-tight, mesh bodysuits and baggy jacket toppers, she’s making a solid play for the role of her generation’s Janet Jackson, a clear influence.
Tinashe’s tracks are an aphrodisiac, the lusty, dark production, the throwback 90s vibe, the experimental R&B. A near-a capella cover mashup of Jackson’s “That’s the Way Love Goes” and Selena Gomez’s “Same Old Love” lead straight into “Fires and Flames,” all delivered from a solo stool near the front of the stage, her full vocal prowess on display. And the girl can belt. At the end, she picks up a few gifts the crowd has thrown on stage before her dancers get their own spotlight while she goes into yet another costume change.
“All Hands on Deck” brings the vibe back up, and then Tinashe closed the set with party anthem, and perfect Friday-night theme song, “All My Friends.” She jumped down into the barricaded area to interact with the crowd as they waved their arms and sang aloud, almost louder than her, and finally she finished with a stunning encore of her smash hit “2 On” that tore the house down.
While her upcoming sophomore album Joyride that has yet to be released, given that she just cancelled the rest of the Joyride World Tour, fingers crossed we’ll get to hear the results sooner rather than later. For now, find Aquarius and her buzzworthy mixtapes here.
Opener Blackbear – an LA-based R&B/hip hop singer – despite having co-written Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend” and collaborated with the likes of Mike Posner and G Eazy, brought a great drummer, good production, and a lackluster performance filled with debauchery, including a cover of A$AP Mob’s “Hella Hoes.”
Tinashe Set List
Ride of Your Life
Party Favors
Dreams Are Real
Looking 4 It
Vulnerable
Boss
Bet
Cold Sweat
Far Side of the Moon
How Many Times
No Contest
Touch Pass
That’s the Way Love Goes (Janet Jackson cover)/Same Old Love (Selena Gomez cover)
Fires and Flames
All Hands on Deck
Player
All My Friends
Encore
2 On
Review by Stephanie Dore
Photos by David Endicott
Tinashe
