BY JACKSON TABEL
Daringly intimate and unapologetically quaint, Clairo’s Charm Tour ran its North American leg in the second half of 2024. On November 4th, Clairo hit the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, an historic concert venue in Nashville, Tennessee, as one of the final stops on her tour following the release of her 2024 alternative album Charm. The show that followed was magically enrapturing, encapsulating the very essence of the album itself.
The stage was set by indie pop/folk singer Alice Phoebe Lou, who gave an amazing performance and set the tone for the night to come. She played a variety of songs from her discography, ranging from beautifully personal ballads to more upbeat soft rock songs. Her stage presence was delightfully relaxed–her musical ability and songwriting talent showcased her strengths as a performer and solidified her space in the genre.
Clairo gave a captivatingly intimate performance that balanced the usual concert energy–complete with singing and dancing–with a more contemplatively personal tone, which made her music even more whimsically enthralling. When Wendy Rene’s 1964 song “After Laughter (Comes Tears)” played, signifying the start of the show, Clairo and her band members entered the stage, wine in hand, delightfully conversing with one another until the song reached its conclusion. Not only did this divert from the standard concert opening, but it also immediately established the tone for the night–pleasantly inviting the audience to indulge in the rich emotional complexity of the evening.
The setlist for the show explored Charm in its entirety, from opening the show with “Nomad” which encompassed her flirtily existential experience with loneliness and connection, to closing the show with “Juna,” playfully and capriciously exploring the multifacetedness of intimacy and relationships. In between the Charm tracks, Clairo performed songs from her bedroom pop roots such as “Flaming Hot Cheetos” and “4EVER,” however the instrumentation of the songs was heavily changed to reflect the jazzy/folk vibe of Charm, implementing a newer, more unique vibe to the indie pop hits that established her presence in the music industry. Songs from her previous two albums, Immunity and Sling were dispersed throughout the setlist as well, providing an all-encompassing range of Clairo’s unparalleled discography, all interpolated with her current sound.
While the obvious star of the show was Ms. Clairo herself, her band was outstanding and an integral part of the show. Many of the songs had instrumental breaks, allowing room for energetic saxophone solos and mesmerizing piano riffs while Clairo danced around the stage. The show, without a doubt, would not have been the same without the live band there to add to the energy of the performance.
The audience at the show presented a mixture of energy levels, with some fans sitting down and others standing up. Directly behind my roommate and I was a group of boys who made it a point to bark at Clairo in between every song, including while she was speaking. Clairo responded to the barking, eyeing our section of the venue, and said “You guys sure are polite” before immediately jumping into her next song. Despite those few audience members, the rest of the attendees were able to remain enchanted by the show in front of us.
Four days after our show, Charm was nominated for Best Alternative Album at this year’s Grammys, which is not shocking to those familiar with the album. Charm, in my opinion, is one of 2024’s most profound albums, from its sound to its lyrical content, it’s an experience that any listener can find a piece of themselves in. Having the opportunity to experience the album live made for an incredibly memorable night, to which I can wholeheartedly say: I was charmed at the Clairo tour.
Setlist:
Nomad
Second Nature
Thank You
Softly
Flaming Hot Cheetos
How
Bambi
Terrapin
Add Up My Love
North
Echo
Glory of the Snow
Slow Dance
Partridge
Everybody’s in Love With You (David Byrne cover)
4EVER
Amoeba
Bags
Sexy to Someone
Juna