Photo by Lauren Braun
When I arrived at The Encore at Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Missouri, on Oct. 25 to see Lauren Sanderson, I was immediately greeted by a crowd ready to rock. Sanderson’s music is kinetic and loudly unapologetic, mixing a pop influence with R&B, hip-hop, and nu metal. The end result is an album that’s brash, all-consuming, and very nearly addicting. While she grew up in Indiana, she’s been releasing music for more than a decade and has played the Governor’s Ball Music Festival, Lollapalooza and this summer played Download Festival alongside artists like Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit. She even has a version of her song, “COME SAY SUM,” featuring Fred Durst.
The Encore was packed, filled with “hey, mama’s” lesbians of past and present. Even before the show started, it was easy to tell everyone there was a diehard fan, dressed in a mix of leopard print and black, matching the visual identity of Sanderson’s newest album, “LAUREN,” perfectly. As a side note, the album also features her smoking a leopard-printed cigarette, an absolutely iconic choice that was unfortunately not available at the merch table. The energy in the room was palpable waiting for the show to start.
Opener XYLAR came out to get things started, priming the crowd. I’ve loved Xylar since her most recent EP, “WHY IS NOBODY DANCING?,” came out earlier this year. It’s a question I find myself asking often, but this album is the perfect response, a combination of dance-pop, electronic, and house that’s impossible to stay still to. With a mix of spoken and sung vocals set to a bouncy beat and supported by pounding bass, each track is club-ready and entirely perfect for anyone who loves to move.
Her performance was an invocation to the already eager crowd, with Xylar calling out to get everyone dancing. She even changed the lyrics of her song “Hot,” switching pronouns from “he” to “she” to better suit the audience and inviting the crowd to sing along in a call-and-response style. Her entire performance was high energy, with her dancing across the stage and even running to join the crowd at one point. As someone who’s been listening to her music on repeat all summer, it felt like her set absolutely flew by, packed to the brim with energy and excitement but quickly over. We’ve had an explosion of music by incredible electronic artists this past year, and XYLAR is definitely one of my favorites.
After that, Lauren Sanderson arrived to cheers, joined by her drummer and close friend Tayler Jordan. She immediately jumped into her first song, “SPELL IT OUT,” to the absolute delight of the crowd. It’s easy to tell why Sanderson is so beloved. Her raspy vocals are captivating and sound even better live, filling up the space and entirely matching her loud, unapologetic persona. I was struck by her stage presence right away. As a newer fan, it was instantly obvious why so many local lesbians would sacrifice a Sunday night to pack in and see her in person. Her music is equal parts sonic rapture and fierce seduction, bringing a cool edge to a community that’s getting tired of saccharine-sweet sapphic depictions where no one is getting any play. She absolutely dominated the space, made even more enthralling by the perfectly synced lighting that pulsed along with the lyrics.
While she mostly played songs off her newest album, she made sure to include lots of older favorites as well, playing songs like “QUEEN BEE” and “THERAPY!” off of her 2022 album, “Death Of A Fantasy,” as well as songs from her 2020 album, “Midwest Kids Can Make It Big,” and even “GAY 4 ME” by G Flip, which she features on, much to the delight of the audience. She also made sure to connect with her crowd, at one point asking a couple near the front how they met as a lead-up to her next song. Even she was shocked when their answer was “over Fortnite.” She ended the concert with the tour’s namesake song, “COME SAY SUM,” first on her own and then again with a fan she pulled from the crowd to sing the Fred Durst verse with her.
We walked out absolutely energized. Both Lauren Sanderson and XYLAR gave phenomenal performances, but I also think it’s rare to find a crowd that’s so unified. There was so much excitement in the room, and once Sanderson came on, it seemed like nearly everyone was singing along. With the incredible drought of lesbian bars of the current era, it was so nice to be in such a queer- and femme-dominated space, everyone reveling in a shared love for the music. Of course, the show being incredible only made the experience better. Sanderson left with promises to stop by Kansas City again on her next tour, whenever that will be, and I can wholeheartedly say I’m excited to find my way back whenever she does.