Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – Katelyn Tarver recently released her third studio album “Tell Me How You Really Feel.” She concluded the supporting tour in front of the Los Angeles hometown crowd, many of whom lined up early at The Echoplex.
“Hey, it’s Katelyn. I can’t come to the phone right now as I’m playing a show in LA tonight. Leave me a message and I’ll get back to you.” That’s how her set started off, a night where there were Easter eggs for the Los Angeles fanbase.
What followed were a series of voice messages left by friends after they heard about her divorce. The messages ranged from the offering of emotional support, to potential solutions, and to a gal pal night out on the town. With that, Tarver walked out onto the stage to the roar of the crowd.
She sang an 18-song set that included all the songs from “Tell Me How You Really Feel.” She opened it up with the opening track of the album “Losing.” She put the cards down on the table with the song, highlighting what life event had inspired the album, “I don’t know who to blame. Is it me, is it you?”
“No Matter What” explored her struggles with her divorce, wondering if the marriage could have been saved or not. The theme behind the song had her singing on her knees. She’s one who decided to turn lemons into lemonade and “So Am I” had her dancing around the stage to celebrate the claiming of ownership over her life.
Those opposite feelings expressed were acknowledged when she talked with the audience, “I’ve been through a lot since I headlined for you last. I’m going to take you on the journey with me tonight. We’re going to feel it all. We’re going to laugh. We’re going to cry. We’re going to look forward. We’re going to look back.”
A song that got some of the loudest cheers was her song “Nicer” that can be found on her debut album. She played a voicemail from her mother. The voicemail was likely recorded during her divorce. It showed motherly kindness and a touch of motherly reprimanding about her use of four letter words, “You know, you used to be nicer.” The song had her picking up the acoustic guitar and playing it like a dance partner, the stage lights swirling around the pair.
The middle of the set included songs that had the crowd singing along with Tarver. It started with “The Price.” Then she flashed back her set to 2017 and her EP “Tired Eyes.” “Weekend Millionaire” had the crowd screaming and then the front row started to yell out the lyrics. Also from that EP, “You Don’t Know,” had her up to the edge of the stage, directing the crowd like her personal choir.
The most fun moment of the set came when she sang “Right For Me.” “There’s sure to be someone in the crowd who’s right for me.” She started to scan the audience for the Right One. The crowd eagerly raised their arms to be selected. Perhaps from video clips of her tour, they already knew what was going to happen. She pointed out to someone in the audience. He jumped up on stage and they shared a dance throughout the song . . . and hey, he knew the lyrics, as well.
She dropped another Los Angeles Easter egg with her song “$82 at Erewhon.” A song that perhaps only Southern California residents understand. People across the rest of the United States and parts of the world would think that spending $82 at a grocery store isn’t a big deal, but this is a grocery store that has gone viral for selling a single (yes) strawberry for $20. Interestingly enough, she mentioned that the son of Erewhon’s founders showed up at her penultimate tour stop in San Francisco and introduced himself after the set.
She ended the show with “Trust Myself.” She told the audience that her life was in disarray over the last couple years. Yet, having gone through it all, she had a final message for everyone, “Keep going.”
Opening up the night was ROSIE (moniker for Rosaileen Scher). Many of those in the audience made the night a double destination, supporting both singers. Her opening song “Never the 1” had many in the crowd singing the last line of the song, “But I was never, I was never the one.”
Her next song was the breezy “Someone You Once Had.” She has top notch hearing, because after the song, she queried the crowd, “Did someone say: that was really good?” The response was yes. She took her music in the Americana-country direction for “City Woman” where she asked the crowd to be real with her, because “she discovered on this tour” that people sometimes thought she was singing “cunty woman.” The singer-songwriter tune “Bad Breaks and Goodbyes” had people singing the lyrics with her.
To end her set, she did a twirl and then shook hands with some of those at the front of the stage. She also promised that after Katelyn Tarver’s set, she would give a hug to everyone who wanted one. She kept her word. After Tarver’s set, there was a line of people waiting for a hug.
Katelyn Tarver Setlist: Losing, No Matter What, So Am I, Strange Weather, Starting to Scare Me, Nicer, Don’t Eat Pary Love, Double Edged Sword, The Price, Japanese Cafe, Weekend Millionaires, You Don’t Know, Right For Me, IDGAF (mash-up with Big Sean’s I Don’t Fuck With You) , #1, $82 at Erewhon, Covell, Trust Myself.
ROSIE setlist: Never the 1, Someone You Once Had, City Woman, Little Bit Better, Mr. Blue Jeans, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Bad Breaks and Goodbyes, Liar Out of Me, Turn Red.
