by Michael McCarthy
Please note: I could not find any videos from last night’s show on Youtube yet so I have included a few videos from Robyn’s recent European dates.
Last night I attended Robyn’s show at Agganis Arena in Boston. I had previously seen Robyn live at the House of Blues in Boston in 2011 and she was fantastic. One reason I remember that show vividly is that she had two drummers who appeared to be identical twins who played entirely in sync. If one drummer hit a snare with his right hand, the other drummer did the exact same thing at the same time. It was truly mesmerizing and one of the most unique things I’ve ever seen at a concert. The only downside was that it was so fascinating that I probably spent as much time watching the drummers as I did watching Robyn. Still, it was an excellent concert. Last night’s show was also excellent but I would even go a step further and say that it was fucking BRILLIANT. Easily one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. I know I’ve said that about a few shows this year but I’ve meant it every time – it just so happens that some of the shows I’ve caught this year have been among the best I’ve ever seen.
Anyone who frequents this site knows what a big Kylie Minogue fan I am. In 2002, I even traveled to Paris, France to see her at Bercy on the Fever tour. I’ve since seen her three additional times here in the States. For me, Kylie’s concerts are magical and those experiences have almost been like religious experiences for me. And I am here to tell you that Robyn’s show last night was actually on par with Kylie’s shows. And I don’t think I have ever said that any other artist has even come close to delivering a concert as powerful as Kylie’s. At least not a pop artist. Last night’s Robyn show truly felt transcendent.
Admittedly, I hadn’t appreciated Robyn’s two most recent albums, Honey and Sexistential, as much as her previous work. That said, the songs from those albums came across very well in concert. And last night’s show made me realize why I wasn’t feeling as moved by those albums – they don’t have any slow ballads. Even when the lyrics deal with heartbreak and vulnerability, Robyn tends to place them over bass-heavy dance beats, and I’ve realized that those songs don’t hit me quite as deeply as her slower, more intimate material. I finally realized that slow or mellow ballads from Robyn was what those two albums were lacking when she performed “Be Mine” last night with just her voice and piano player. The show had kicked off with throbbing dance numbers like “Blow My Mind” and “Fembot,” but after 12 club ready dance bangers, she finally switched gears for “Be Mine” and it was beautiful. Honestly, I ended up bawling my eyes out. Hearing that song always makes me think of a couple of women I’d really loved in the past who’d rejected me. When she sings “you never were and you never will be mine,” it pulls at my heartstrings in a way that I actually find difficult to put into words. That song just slices me apart. But in a good way. Crying as she performed it last night felt fairly cathartic.
Immediately after finishing “Be Mine!,” Robyn sang her early hit “Show Me Love” also with just piano and vocals. But “Show Me Love” wasn’t merely stripped down – she turned it into a slow ballad. The melody wasn’t unrecognizable but it took the song to a whole other level. I love the original version but it’s an upbeat pop song, almost too sugary sweet, but last night’s arrangement made the lyrics resonate with me in a way that they probably hadn’t before and I loved it.
For most of last night’s show, the band consisted of a drummer, a bass guitarist, a keyboardist and an additional member who sometimes played additional percussion and sometimes played additional keyboards. The live instrumentation was augmented by electronic elements and enormous, throbbing beats. But I actually like that approach. You get the bass and the urgency you get from her studio albums but it’s complemented by live instruments that give the songs an added layer and help bring them to life in the live setting.
Last night’s 21 song set lasted nearly two full hours. While she did several newer songs like recent singles “Really Real” and “Dopamine,” at least half of the songs she performed were the classics. Those songs included fan favorites like “Fembot” and “Hang With Me.” Interestingly, when she performed “With Every Heartbeat,” she transformed the song from a ballad into a banger. At first I wasn’t sure what to make of it but by the end of the song it had won me over. Had she not done those tender performances of “Be Mine!” and “Show Me Love” I might have been bothered that she turned “With Every Heartbeat” into a pulsing dance song but since “Be Mine!” and “Show Me Love” gave the set a nice, subtle and touching break, I didn’t mind the reinvention of “With Every Heartbeat.”
One of the highlights for me last night was my favorite Robyn song, “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do.” I was elated that she performed it because I’d read some of her recent European set lists and she hadn’t been doing it lately. But she called last night the first night of the tour so even though she’d done a handful of Sexistential tour dates overseas, I believe the show was reimagined for the U.S. trek of the tour since the set list was different than what she was doing at those previous shows.
Having seen Robyn in a club before, it was interesting to see her perform in an arena. Agganis certainly isn’t a huge arena but it’s an arena nevertheless and Robyn made good use of the large stage with all sorts of different lights that pulsated, throbbed, strobed, etc. She also had something akin to fireworks that exploded above the stage making loud bangs in sync with the beats of the songs she was doing at the time. Later in the show, glitter appeared to rain down on Robyn but not the audience.
And now for the climax. Last night’s encore was a trilogy of hits. “Missing U,” “Call Your Girlfriend” and, finally, “Dancing on My Own.” With “Dancing on My Own,” Robyn sang the first verse accompanied by the song’s throbbing beats. But then she did something brave. Instead of singing the first chorus herself, she not only stopped singing and turned the mic on the audience but had the band stop playing. The entire arena went silent for about one second before everyone in the audience sang the chorus. And I do mean everyone. I looked around and tried to see if I could find even one person who wasn’t singing and I couldn’t find one.
Now, I’d heard “Dancing on My Own” countless times before, but until Robyn stopped singing and the crowd took over, I don’t think I’d ever really considered how many other people carried that song around inside them, too. And singing the chorus together was quite moving. Honestly, it gave me chills and I found myself crying happy tears. It helps if you understand the song itself. The lyrics are about feeling terribly alone even when you’re in a crowd, hence the “dancing on my own.” But when everyone sang the chorus last night, it became about something different. It’s not that anyone forgot what the song was about but singing it together like that made it feel almost like the opposite of loneliness. It felt communal. If you hadn’t felt it earlier in the evening, it made everyone feel like they were a part of something special.
After the show ended, I ended up talking to some of the people sitting around me for at least ten minutes. We had all been so moved by the show that we almost could not believe it. We stood there talking because we needed confirmation that others had been as touched as we’d been. “You felt that too, right?” we were asking each other. But we’d all felt it. And none of us could quite put into words how touching it was when everyone sang that chorus of “Dancing On My Own.” And everyone agreed that “Be Mine!” was devastating, albeit in a good way.
I’d seen Robyn put on an amazing concert before. What I hadn’t experienced until last night was a Robyn concert that felt transcendent. For nearly two hours she made thousands of people dance, but the moment I’ll remember most was the one when she stopped singing and let us sing instead. For a few minutes, a song about being alone made an arena full of people feel anything but.
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