Finishing off the last day of classes, students flocked to the Power Center to see Indigo de Souza (they/she) perform in all her glory, the perfect way to end the school year, and more importantly, to start the summer. Opening for Indigo de Souza was Claud and Hannah Boike, both extremely talented artists who helped to make this show captivating and magical. All three sets of the night were acoustic, with the artists’ voices and guitar resonating throughout the entire theater.
As they walked on stage with just her guitar in hand, Indigo de Souza prefaced the performance, remarking that she hadn’t played a solo show in many years, when they were much younger and her music considerably less famous. They admitted that playing alone was scary, but they recognized that it was important to face your fears. She started to play her guitar, only to find out that it wasn’t tuned yet (their bandmates typically tuned it for them). As she kept talking to the audience, it felt like conversing with an old friend. The entire night felt intimate and special, like there was a real connection between the artists and each member of the audience. To make the night even more memorable, this was the last show of what had been a long tour for de Souza and their bandmates.
Despite starting off a little shaky, throughout the concert one thing continued to amaze me, song after song– her voice. While I have listened to many of her songs online, they do not do them justice. Some artists sound exactly the same in their studio recordings as in concert. However, for Indigo de Souza, listening to her music online felt like a 2D experience, while hearing her live was a 3D one. The tonal quality of de Souza’s voice evoked such complex emotions, sometimes without singing lyrics. There are parts of their songs in which they essentially wail, but rather than just being meaningless noise, they seem to convey universal human feelings which cannot be captured by mere lyrics. This is not to say that their guitar playing and songwriting wasn’t amazing because it was, but her voice enhanced all of those qualities to become ten times better. I could have listened to them sing nonsense and still be enthralled.
One of my favorite songs of the entire night was “The Sun is Bad” off their album I Love My Mom. This song showcases the aforementioned vocals with amazing lyrics that punch your soul. Before starting this song, she talked about the importance of self-worth and leaving toxic relationships behind. Their lyrics highlight this with lines such as “Honey I love you, but I don’t need to have you/ There’s nothing like crawling through a dark room, in the rear view”. Other songs off this album that were played included “Ghost” and “I Had to Get Out”.
Another reason that this night was so intimate was because de Souza themself shared snippets of advice before each song. Especially since the music itself is so sad, hearing how de Souza has grown since writing these songs helped me to enjoy the concert without getting too down. She played songs such as “Kill Me” with lyrics that go “Kill me, Kill me/no one, asked me/ to feel this, f— up/ but here I am, f— up.” However, throughout the concert they also reflected on how their music has become more positive as she herself becomes healthier and happier. According to de Souza though, it seems that some people are unhappy with the change in her music.
To close off this review, I urge everyone reading this to listen to some of de Souza’s music, especially the ones listed above. However, if I could recommend just one song that she played during this concert it would be “Late Night Crawler” from her 2021 album “Any Shape You Take”. When de Souza sang, “Maybe we’re bigger than staying on the very same island” to the audience this night, I felt like this was just what I needed to hear at this moment in my life. The concert was amazing in so many regards, but a true strength of Indigo de Souza’s music has been how relatable it is. She has the ability to create a genuine, meaningful connection from one human to another, and isn’t that the best type of music there is.