SOLANGE Friday April 21 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Last Friday night, the Solange show was the place to be. I ran into about eight people right off the bat. The Portland crowd was gorgeous, diverse, and buzzing with good energy. “Don’t let me down, Portland” I kept thinking to myself, desperately hoping Solange would feel the love from my city so she’d want to come back someday. Opener and avant-garde drummer Jamire Williams did some cool stuff on a shimmering bronze drum kit with spiral trash cymbals, playing over spacey production, synths, and tribal chanting.
After a short wait, the lights flicked off and the room was lit by a color-changing backdrop with a large circle in the middle—it usually looked like an all-red Japanese flag, or perhaps a symbol for an angry planet.
Solange’s band, dressed in ’70s –esque garb, entered one-by-one. When Solange jogged onstage she was met with a roar of support as she sang the opening lyrics to her excellent 2016 album A Seat At the Table: “Fall in your ways so you can crumble/Fall in your ways so you can sleep at night.” Only here she sang the lines differently, taking her time so they could really sink in and thoroughly convey her message. This set the pace and tone for the rest of the night.
Solange’s songs were chock-full of vocal ad-libs, carefree Black girl dance moves, and that artsy choreography (similar to her music videos). Surprisingly, the Portland audience was NOT embarrassing—people actually knew the words, sang along, and showed Solange adequate appreciation.
My favorite songs of the night were also my favorites from the album. “Cranes in the Sky” and “Mad” felt especially good in that space, as did the danceable “Junie.” It was really special when it was finally time for “F.U.B.U.,” and Solange ran out into the orchestra section so she could sing and dance to the pro-Black anthem with the audience (she came VERY close to where I was sitting, but don’t worry, I kept my cool).
In addition to singing A Seat At the Table almost in its entirety, Solange sang a couple of older tracks like “Losing You” (from 2012’s True) and “T.O.N.Y.” (from 2008’s Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams) before doing “Don’t Touch My Hair” as the encore.
While Solange’s band played her out, I felt simultaneously sad and satisfied by the show’s ending. And as soon as the lights cut on, “Humble” by Kendrick Lamar started bumping from the speakers (“I remember syrup sandwiches and crime allowances”), soothing us and making everything okay again. Whoever was controlling the music knew their audience.
More photos from Soul’d Out Festival 2017 after the jump!
LUPE FIASCO Thursday April 20 at the Roseland
BIG FREEDIA Friday April 21 at Dante’s
