Ingrid Michaelson w/ AJR
Moore Theater, Seattle, WA
10.22.16
From self-releasing her debut, Slow the Rain, in 2005, to having hit tracks featured on several prime-time TV shows, Ingrid Michaelson has been steadily churning out positively-reviewed work over the course of seven albums. In support of her latest, It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense, in August, 2016, more than ten years after her debut, Michaelson launched into this fall’s “Hell No Tour” across the US, finally making it to Seattle’s Moore Theater to show off her chops.
Opening the night were the Met brothers of AJR. Three years ago, they uploaded their track “I’m Ready,” – which features memorable samples from SpongeBob SquarePants – and within 6 months were commercially releasing their self-produced music. Fast forward to this show, and they’re opening for an act they used to cover songs from.
Their performance, filled with songs from the various EPs and the album they’ve released since “I’m Ready,” was highly energetic and filled with jokes. They opened their set with a track off their newest EP, “Come Hang Out.” With few exceptions, AJR’s tracks were fun and upbeat, combining styles like dubstep and indie-pop. The performance continued with an older, spookier sounding track, “Pitchfork Kids,” which sounded fantastic live. Aside from their own wonderful music, the set also included some interesting covers. First was a ukulele version of The Weekend’s, “The Hills.” What started out a cute, bright ukulele cover quickly evolved into the boys passionately drumming along to the original track.
Their own song, “Weak,” was particularly fun, accompanied by Jack, the youngest brother and lead singer, dancing and running around the stage. Strengthening the themes of odd falsetto tones in some of their music, Jack also remixed a bit of “Oo-de-lally,” the little tune from Robin Hood, for a very unexpected turn. AJR had a great set—one definitely ready for their headlining tour this coming spring. There wasn’t much diversity between songs, they were all fun tracks with loud beats and intense base drops, but it actually worked for them. There were a few songs where the boys slowed it down, but you weren’t left craving more of those throughout the performance, it was well put together.
Then it was time for Michaelson and her band, who ran on stage amidst loud cheers from each and every tier of the Moore. With a merch line out the door all night and a good number of VIP ticket holders eagerly waiting up front, it’s easy to say the crowd was pretty excited for her performance. The set opened with the first track of her latest album, “Light Me Up,” and had everyone up out of their seats, dancing and singing along. The set continued with much of the same, mixing tracks from each of her seven albums.
Changing the pace of the night, Michaelson blessed us with a beautiful performance of “How We Love.” A touching song on the album, the track was even more lovely and charming live. Originally an Elvis Presley song, then a Twenty One Pilots song, then an Ingrid Michaelson song, and eventually a song everyone is familiar with but no one knows where it came from, she sat down at the piano ready to launch into her tear-jerking cover of “Can’t Help Falling In Love.” She originally released the track back on her Be OK album in 2008, and the song has since been used on loads of playlists and soundtracks.
“The Way I Am” definitely got the crowd singing the lyrics they’ve had stuck in their head for the past ten years, and it was such a cute moment to see people of all ages laugh and enjoy the song as much as Michaelson. She called AJR back on stage for a performance of “The Lotto,” a song they all wrote together, then delivered more of her own songs before she and her band were walking off the stage, much to the crowd’s dismay.
They opened their encore with “Girls Chase Boys,” a hit from Michaelson’s 2014 album, Lights Out, and the whole crowd rushed to the front of the stage to sing and dance along. The song was a lot of fun and Michaelson even let some younger girls in the crowd sing some phrases of the chorus for her, accompanied by loud cheers from everyone and proud videos taken by parents. Finally, to close off the night, Ingrid and her band all performed a cover of “I’m Too Sexy,” complete with each band member singing a verse, jackets bedazzled with Michelson’s name, and a little choreographed dance at the very end before their bows.
As a whole, the night was a pretty good one. AJR and Ingrid Michaelson’s set both offered very different kinds of energy, but each had some really strong parts to it. AJR had a great, exciting set with fun songs to watch being performed. Ingrid, on the other hand, had a much calmer set, but her performances of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and “How We Love” were truly beautiful and touching.
Review and photos by Lulu Dawson
Ingrid Michaelson
AJR
