Beginning in mid-September, Laufey began her North American tour for her third studio album, “A Matter of Time,” with opener Suki Waterhouse.
On Oct. 10, I attended her show at the United Center in Chicago. In addition to this tour being the first in arenas, her performance in Chicago was the largest out of any other day on the tour.
Being as I have been a massive fan of her music with the blend of jazz and orchestral styles, I was thrilled to have attended the concert
The opener for the night was indie-pop artist Waterhouse, whom I have known about from her hit song “Good Looking Boy.” Waterhouse brought a lot of energy in the crowd, and her rock-like music complimented Laufey’s traditional style perfectly.
At around 9 p.m., the lights dimmed and Laufey began her concert with snippets of majestic – yet somewhat haunting – orchestral instrumentation paired with visuals relating to some of her music from the album.
Laufey began her set by playing the debut track from “A Matter of Time,” called “Clockwork” which set up the tone for the night. “Clockwork” emulates the same vibes as a jazz standard. I think it was a great choice to start the show this way, as it emphasizes Laufey’s roots as a jazz artist while also reinforcing the theme of the album.
The remainder of Act I consisted of a variety of tracks across all three of her albums. Many of these songs got the most crowd engagement, as well. During the song “Lover Girl,” the whole audience clapped along to the bossa nova rhythm found in the studio version. Other songs in this act consisted of fan favorites that had heavy influences from a variety of jazz styles. “Dreamer,” “Falling Behind” and “Bored” are all older pieces, yet they were able to evoke such excitement from the audience because of their popularity and crowd engagement. Songs like “Silver Lining” had the entire audience serenading Laufey with flashlights. The opening act was easily one of my favorites and definitely the most upbeat and It lends itself to the cleanest transition between acts.
Act II was entirely unique as it takes the jazz influences introduced earlier and takes them to the extreme. Popular songs such as “Valentine” and “Fragile” are covered by Laufey in an upbeat, faster “jazz club” style. Laufey performs alongside a pianist, drummer and bassist on her clock stage. This act was the most unique of the entire night, as Laufey managed to make an arena with an audience of around 20,000 feel as intimate as a small jazz bar. I loved how stylistically different she made her older songs feel. It was a great way to include some of her classics in such a tightly knit show without making them feel out of place.
Shortly after her jazz set, Laufey performed “Let You Break My Heart Again” as a solo, with it being entirely her playing piano and singing without a backing track. The rendition was heart-wrenching and beautiful and the audience was extremely respectful during her most vulnerable moment on stage.
Admittedly, I feel that despite all the great choices with the setlist, Laufey did not equally space out some of her segments. In particular, her shortest segment was undoubtedly my favorite of the night. Consisting of “Carousel,” “Forget-Me-Not” and “Cuckoo Ballet,” Laufey’s orchestral influence shone here like nowhere else. My pick for the best performed song of the night is “Forget-Me-Not.” The song features Icelandic lyrics such as “Gleymdu mér aldrei þó ég héðan flýg,” alongside low woodwind runs. Although I and many others could not understand the words, Laufey’s performance was filled with so much raw emotion and movement that the language barrier did not stop me from understanding its meaning. “Cuckoo Ballet” was also lovely and featured a pair of ballet dancers as Laufey soloed on cello. So, I feel that the pacing could have been better as the most emotional pieces were all crammed together.
As the concert neared its conclusion, Laufey’s next act followed a similar structure to Act I, combining songs off “A Matter of Time” with her older songs. For her song “Tough Luck,” Laufey spun on the hand of her clock stage, which was creative while also being a highlight of the night. For other songs, the audience was able to sing the lyrics for Laufey, such as “I’ve done the math, there’s no solution” from “Promise” and the iconic tradition of yelling “Blah, blah, Blah” during “From The Start.”
Concluding her concert, Laufey sang “Bewitched” as her Chicago surprise song, dedicating it to a young girl named Catherine who was unable to attend. The closing song was “Letter to My 13 Year Old Self,” which I feel is the perfect choice, as it lets Laufey reflect on how far she’s come as a musician. During the lyric “One day you’ll be up on stage, little girls will scream your name,” the entire stadium cheered “Laufey!” as loud as they could. It was definitely the most touching moment of the concert.
The “A Matter of Time” tour is one of the most well put-together shows I have ever heard of. It is a more emotional and rich performance than a lot of what you will see from popular artists today. Laufey gave an unforgettable performance, and I will continue to think about this show like clockwork.
