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Troye Sivan conjures up minimalist magic at the Anthem

Out singer does wonders bringing spare, mellow ‘Bloom’ to near arena-size life

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Troye Sivan, gay news, Washington Blade

Troye Sivan performs at the Anthem Oct. 4 in Washington. (Washington Blade photo by Joey DiGuglielmo)

A Troye Sivan concert leaves one with two major impressions: One, it’s amazing the magic he can weave using so little and two, the juxtaposition of his sonic/video/TV show performances — where he comes off as an androgynous, gay sex-starved coquette gyrating lasciviously — dovetails quite nicely with his stage/interview persona where he’s self deprecating, down to earth, sweet seeming, even anodyne. 

That’s not a twofer you’d necessarily think would work. His Aussie accent helps. With his bleached blonde hair, blue eyes, lanky, 115-pound (it appears) frame, the 23-year-old seems positively angelic but you’re never quite sure if he stayed with the good angels like Gabriel and Raphael or is working undercover in Lucifer’s throng. 

Last week’s D.C. concert at the Anthem where he played the eighth show of his current 26-date “Bloom Tour,” (his album dropped Aug. 31) felt in some ways rather minimalist. A couch and a few lamps during the ballad set were the only props. The rest of the time the only visuals were — an impressive backscreen light show notwithstanding — Sivan’s four-piece (two guys/two girls) band and Sivan himself. There was an outfit change or two but the clothes were so non-glam and unmemorable he might have just as likely been out for a stroll on the D.C. Wharf. 

There were no video projections, no appearances from any of the fabulous, gender/bending clothes from the eye-popping “Bloom” video and nary a peeking nipple — kind of a Sivan trademark — was seen all night. No choreography either. Sivan just sort of bops around — he jumps, he spins, he twirls, he gyrates, he almost-but-never-quite-rubs himself — as the spirit moves. No backup singers (though the players did add some vocals), no dancers, no pyrotechnics. It was spare, but spare in a refreshing way. You never felt he didn’t have those things because he couldn’t yet afford them. This is only his second record, so maybe he can’t, but the minimalism felt chosen not resorted to. 

Last time he played Washington (not counting his ebullient June appearance at Capital Pride) — at the 9:30 Club in early 2016 — it felt like teenybopper girls’ night out with some gay men mixed in. This show felt like the inverse. It was almost all 20s and 30s gay men, like a gay high holy day young professionals night, with about 15 percent straight gal pals along for the ride. 

When you’ve been (as I have) to way too many shows by veteran acts in their golden years with 30-plus-year careers behind them, it’s fun to see an act only on his or her sophomore album. Whatever the new album is, it gets played almost in its entirety, there’s true energy in the room, people sing along en masse to every song whether it was a single or not and the performer feels genuinely thrilled to be there. These are still new experiences and unchartered terrain. They’re still giddy they can fill the next size venues up from their last tour. 

In Sivan’s case, that meant we got to hear all 10 cuts from the “Bloom” record in mostly faithful arrangements. The only unexpected twist was “My My My!” went into dance club remix mode (double-time beats) for its last couple choruses. It worked — the crowd (fairly packed on Anthem floor but not sold out) ate it up.

It was impossible to tell how much of the actual music was live. At times Sivan would take a line here and there a fifth or an octave above where he sings it on the album. The album vocal would keep going but you could never quite tell if that was recorded or live BGVs from the band. It didn’t matter — the vocals were stellar all night. If some beds were recorded, you never sensed for a second it was to save him any taxation. 

Seven cuts (four from the new record) made a killer opening set. “Plum” and “Lucky Strike,” neither singles interestingly, were arguably the most beguiling. Sivan sold them with abandon. Only on “Wild” did the relative simplicity of his choruses feel a little threadbare; in other spots it just seemed to buoy the sing-alongability of his tunes. 

A four-song ballad set provided a nice mid-show contrast with room for acoustic piano and guitar accompaniment. “Bite,” a bonus cut from his first album “Blue Neighborhood,” was the only semi-dud bouncing back and forth between a finger-snapping, sing-songy sort of thing to thundering drum solos that felt a little whiplashy. You could see why it was a bonus cut but I guess you gotta get a little creative to fill out a set when you’re only on your second record.

“Dance to This” and “Animal” closed out the main set. “Animal,” a fine song, wasn’t quite the best choice for that slot, but it wasn’t a catastrophe. “Youth,” fist-pumpingly ecstatic, and “My My My!” (of course) were the encores. 

The banter was just the right amount. Sivan talked about walking his dog around D.C. that day, went on and on about how great it was to see everyone, expressed concern for the mashed-together crowd (there are no seats on the Anthem main floor), told the crowd he wanted to “see you guys go fucking crazy” during key musical climaxes (we happily obliged). It was all just fun. You didn’t have to overthink it, you just soaked in the joy of having such an out-and-proud headliner who could fill the place among us. We might argue how much of a groundbreaker Sivan is. Yeah, we’ve had Rufus and Jake Shears (he’ll be here Oct. 31, by the way) before him but those singers were always — in much different ways — a bit left of center. Most of us admire Rufus Wainwright but he’s somebody you might put on at 4 a.m. during a nightcap, not somebody you want to blast on a summer road trip. 

Sivan is the middle ground. His album doesn’t beat you over the head. You’re not immediately sucked in by its hooks the way you are by, say, Charlie Puth or Shawn Mendes. But let it soak in and you see how much understated beauty and warmth is there. Sivan hit all the right notes realizing “Bloom” in a live setting. It’s sort of a mellow, hot tub-and-sex album; it wouldn’t have automatically worked in a large room yet Sivan and the crowd together made it pop live. 

His pal Leland opened but I missed his set. Trans pop princess Kim Petras gave a super-fun, eight-song set from about 8-8:35 full of Cyndi Lauper-esque pop hooks and big, rafter-raising vocals she pulled off beautifully with unwaveringly good pitch. 

The merch was underwhelming. Sivan looked more like a washed-out ghoul on his own shirts which were — as we have come to expect at such events — obscenely overpriced (Ts went for $40 and except for ball caps and pop sockets, it went up from there). 

SET LIST:

KIM PETRAS (8-8:34 p.m.):

1. All the Time

2. I Don’t Want it All

3. Hillside Boys

4. Hills

5. Unlock It

6. Close Your Eyes

7. Heart to Break

8. Can’t Do Better

TROYE SIVAN (9:07-10:30)

1. Seventeen

2. Bloom

3. Plum

4. Heaven

5. Fools

6. Lucky Strike

7. Wild

8. Postcard

9. The Good Side

10. What a Heavenly Way to Die

11. Better Now (cover) 

12. Bite 

13. Dance to This

14. Animal

ENCORE

15. Youth

16. My My My! 

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Music & Concerts

Here’s everything queer that just happened at the 67th Grammy Awards

LGBTQ megastars among winners, performers

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Screen grabs from Entertainment Weekly/Youtube

The 67th Grammy Awards featured debut performances by LGBTQ megastars Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Doechii — all of whom also won awards at Sunday’s awards ceremony, making the gay sons and thot daughters of the queer and trans world rejoice. 

Though Roan was the only queer artist to take home one of the “Big Four” awards — Best New Artist, Doechii, Carpenter, Charlie XCX, Billie Eilish, and Lady Gaga were also all nominated for one or more of the “Big Four.”

Carpenter, Roan, and Doechii also shocked audiences with their debut performances, showing us what it really means to be out and loud. 


Doechii

The self-proclaimed swamp princess from Florida took home a well-deserved win for Best Rap Album (“Alligator Bites Never Heal”). 

She stunned audiences with her performance and her speech, dedicating her win to Black women everywhere. Only two other women have won the award — Lauryn Hill and Cardi B since the category was introduced in 1989. 

“I know there are so many Black women out there that are watching me right now and I want to tell you: You can do it. Anything is possible,” said Doechii during her acceptance speech.  

Chappell Roan

Roan won the Best New Artist award, prompting her to whip out her notebook and deliver a speech about her struggles with the healthcare industry after getting dropped by her first record label radicalized her. 

On the carpet, she served looks on the red carpet while delivering Jean Paul Gaultier vintage realness and thanking the trans girlies who made her who she is today. 

“Trans people have always existed and they will forever exist. They will never, no matter what happens, take trans joy away and [they] have to be protected more than anything because I would not be here without trans girls,” said Roan on the red carpet. 

She also served during her debut Grammys performance, turning Crypto.com Arena into the Pink Pony Club while dedicating the performance to Los Angeles — the city that embraced her when she wanted to break into the industry. She used her acceptance speech as her opportunity to shine a light on her journey toward becoming the icon she is today — and to no one’s surprise, it didn’t come easy to her. 

Roan opened up about her struggles with healthcare and being dropped as an artist in L.A., leaving her without health coverage and scrambling for solutions. Seems like the healthcare system has radicalized yet another one. 

St. Vincent 

St. Vincent revealed that she has a wife and daughter during her acceptance speeches, thanking them after winning three Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album (“All Born Screaming”), Best Alternative Music Performance (“Flea”), and Best Rock Song (“Broken Man”). 

During her red carpet interview, reporters asked Clark about the shocking news about her mentioning her wife and daughter, she responded “Most people were [unaware]. It’s young, so we’ve kept it under wraps.” The reporter then continued his line of questioning, meanwhile intrusive thoughts quickly got ahold of Clark, prompting her to interrupt the reporter to clarify that she meant the child is young, not the person in the relationship she’s in. 

Girl, you’re good.

Sabrina Carpenter 

Though Carpenter didn’t win any of the “Big Four” categories, she did win Best Pop Vocal Album for (“Short n’ Sweet”) and Best Pop Solo Performance for (“Espresso”).

According to E!, Carpenter’s acceptance speech was apparently censored, cutting her off after she said: “Thank you, holy sh*t, bye!”

The pop star was nominated for Record of the Year (“Espresso”), Song of the Year (“Please, Please, Please”), Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album (“Short n’ Sweet”), Album of the Year (“Short n’ Sweet”), Best Remixed Recording (“Espresso – Mark Ronson x FNZ Working Late Remix”), Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical (“Short n’ Sweet”) — all within her first year as a record-releasing musician. 

Charli XCX

Charlie XCX truly brought the brat energy to the Grammys with her performance of (“Van Dutch”), also taking home the wins for Best Dance/Pop Recording for (“Van Dutch”) and Best Dance/Electronic Album for (“Brat”). 

Lady Gaga 

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance went to Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. Gaga used her acceptance speech to advocate for trans people stating that we all need love and to be uplifted.

“Trans people are not invisible. Trans people deserve love. The queer community deserves to be lifted up. Music is love. Thank you,” said Gaga.

No, thank you mother. 

Last, but not least

It is also worth noting that our tried and true ally, Alicia Keys used her moment on the Grammys stage to advocate for the restoration of DEI initiatives. 

“This is not the time to shut down the diversity of voices,” said Keys. “We’ve seen on this stage talented, hard-working people from different backgrounds, with different points of view, and it changes the game. DEI is not a threat, it’s a gift — and the more voices, the more powerful the sound.”

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Music & Concerts

Gay Men’s Chorus starting the year with a cabaret

‘Postcards’ to be performed at CAMP Rehoboth

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The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington performs 'Postcards' in Rehoboth Beach, Del. on Jan. 18. (Photos courtesy of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington)

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will perform “Postcards,” a cabaret, on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 5:00p.m. and 8:00p.m. at CAMP Rehoboth Elkins-Archibald Atrium. 

In this performance, the choir will share hilarious and heart-warming stories and songs about the travel adventures they’ve had and hope to have. Songs include “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “Streets of Dublin,” “Magic To Do,” “Home,” and “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” Tickets cost $35 and can be purchased on Camp Rehoboth’s website.

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Music & Concerts

WMC’s ‘Comfort and Joy’ fuses drama, well-being, light

Soloist describes production as ‘reverent and beautiful’

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Opal Clyburn-Miller (Photo courtesy Clyburn-Miller)

‘Comfort and Joy’
Washington Master Chorale
Sunday, Dec. 22, 5 p.m.
Church of the Epiphany
1317 G St., N.W.
washingtonmasterchorale.org

With its warmth and unfettered imagination, it’s no surprise that the Washington Master Chorale’s enduringly popular winter program remains a holiday favorite. 

This December the Washington Master Chorale (WMC), helmed by out artistic director Thomas Colohan presents “Comfort and Joy” a selection of British and American works like “Lute-Book Lullaby,” “I Saw Three Ships,” “Puer Natus” by Samuel Scheidt and “Hosanna to the Son of David” by Orlando Gibbons. 

In addition to these Christmas classics, WMC will perform 2022 Florence Price Commission Winner Mason Bynes’s “Ephiphanytide” and Ēriks Ešenvalds’ “Northern Lights,” the firsthand accounts of arctic explorers Charles Francis Hall and Fridtjof Nansen and their experiences surrounding the fabled aurora borealis.

Described as “reverent and beautiful” by “Northern Lights” tenor soloist Opal Clyburn-Miller, “Comfort and Joy” fuses drama and well-being, and the import of light. 

And as an artist who uses they/them pronouns, Clyburn-Miller says where classical music is concerned, “it seems people are put in their boxes and that’s where they stay.” They add, “there’s been some progress. It’s pretty much a traditional art form.” 

With regard to their career, Clyburn-Miller, the Baltimore based Peabody Conservatory student, says the work usually comes through word of mouth: “You show up, you’re a good colleague and people want to work with you again.”

The solo piece, according to Colohan, is perfect for Clyburn-Miller. The soloist says in response: “Maybe I have the imagination to think of what Northern Lights might look like in Eastern Europe. I’ve never been that far north but I can put myself in that sense of wonder and astonishment.”

But the gig hasn’t been entirely without its tests. The lyrics are in Latvian, a new language for the meticulous singer.

“It’s been a bit tricky getting the Latvian down,” they say. “Usually in my singing experience, it’s been German, Italian and French, and I’m familiar with Spanish and some Hungarian and Russian, but this is entirely new.”

A perfect chorale venue requires easy parking; good acoustics; a concert level Steinway, and an excellent organ; a sanctuary wide enough to accommodate a 50-person chorale; and audience friendly loos, says Colohan. 

The Church of Epiphany meets most if not all of these requirements.  

Raised Catholic in Richmond, Colohan came out at Ohio’s progressive Oberlin Conservatory. Around this time, he remembers visiting Washington for a music educator’s conference and partying at JR.’s, Badlands, and other bars. He says, “I saw that D.C. had a huge population of clean-cut gay boys. That journey which started with me being gay, prompted me to ask questions.” 

As WMC artistic director since 2009, Colohan, who lives with his partner in Silver Spring, became increasingly interested in secular poetry and literature, especially the ways in which it intersects with chorale music. For him, that became the heart of the art form. 

“My secular approach is wider than some. I’m like the curator of the museum going down to the basement to bring some stuff up. You cannot hear the music if we don’t sing it.”

He’s remained conservative as an aesthetic but not an ethos. “I can wear a blazer and not be crazy right wing. Spiritually speaking, I’m Zen Buddhist now.”

A lot of the concert is about darkness and light. Colohan says, “In ancient times when the world became darker, the days leading to the solstice were scary and then on the 22nd they saw that days were getting longer and it was lighter.”

“Comfort and Joy” closes with a candle lit chorale memorably singing “Silent Night.”  

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