Talk about timing.
Twenty-four hours after America bit its nails and watched overcaffeinated TV pundits talk in circles about metaphorical “waves” for 12 hours, Seattle got the restorative treatment the whole country needed after a tense Election Day. Lizzo, pop’s goddess of self-love and self-care, brought her fountain of joy to the Emerald City on Wednesday as her Special tour pulled into a sold-out Climate Pledge Arena.
In some respects, the powerhouse singer/rapper’s overwhelmingly positive messages are a balm for the scrapes and scars of a world that feels increasingly harsh and turbulent. This was clear from the opening notes of “The Sign,” a congenial, post-lockdown salutation that also opens “Special,” Lizzo’s fourth album (depending how you count ’em), marking her pandemic return.
“It’s called heeeaaaling,” she crowed amid the show’s gleaming, jab-stepping blastoff.
There is an escapist quality to much of Lizzo’s music, including her trove of pre-funk anthems and her current disco-vibing smash “About Damn Time,” which later closed her nearly two-hour set with a heart-thumping singalong. It’s a throwback roller rink jam that would make Bruno Mars jealous.
From the lose-yourself, body-positive banger “Tempo” to a funk-rocking rendition of Cardi B collab “Rumors,” Lizzo and her stellar backing band and dance squad served up plenty of opportunities to momentarily forget “everything that’s been going on.” But even through all the revelry and self-help pep talks between songs, Lizzo wasn’t exactly sticking our heads in the sand for two hours.
“No matter what elections say, no matter what politicians say, it’s still my body my choice!” she shouted defiantly before nailing her booming, buster-dismissing soul ballad “Jerome” while lounging on a couch at the end of the catwalk. A few songs later, she delivered outsider celebration “Special” with enough force to down an old-growth forest.
It wasn’t the first pro-abortion-rights statement issued that evening. Opening the show, breakout Atlanta rapper Latto delivered unflinching lines (“My ovaries ain’t for you to bully”) in her anthemic single “Pussy” — a takedown of misogynistic hypocrisies and stand-up for reproductive rights, released after Roe v. Wade was overturned — as her backup dancers held signs reading “Protect women’s rights” and “My body my choice.” A few weeks ago, the harder-edged emcee brought out Stacey Abrams, whose challenge to Georgia’s incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp came up short, while performing the song in Atlanta.
While Lizzo began her career as a hyper-lyrical indie rapper, as a vocalist, there aren’t many in her league. She proved as much Wednesday, despite the fact that she was a little under the weather, mentioning her stuffy nose on several occasions.
It didn’t detract from most of her more energetic numbers or full-throated wallops like “Cuz I Love You” — the rumbling and prancing tune that wrapped about five of the night’s biggest vocal displays into one mighty, knock-you-outta-your-seat blow. But there were times it seemed like she was saving herself for more pivotal moments in the set, leaning more heavily on her backup singers during a crunchy “Like a Girl.” Lizzo’s girl-powered live band, which featured 19-year-old guitar standout Jordan Waters, gave a lot of her heavily streamed songs a fresh feel, with more organic renditions of the pop star’s well-polished productions.
Waters’ sly funk guitar licks laced the Lauryn Hill-sampling “Fracture Up Twice,” before Lizzo was joined by her DJ and longtime collaborator Sophia Eris for a brief cover of Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing),” the band jamming out the hip-hop classic as Lizzo briefly slipped offstage. Later on, it was the crowd and Lizzo’s dance team that provided the most energy on Lizzo’s superstar-making “Truth Hurts,” coproduced by Seattle native Tele, at least until one of her many galvanizing flute solos turned the room up another notch. After the crowd lit up during the opening verse, rapping along word for word, an awestruck Lizzo seemed to delight in letting them take the lead for a bit.
Amid the jubilant, self-love sermonizing show that played out like a two-hour release from the doomscroll, the Huge-tent pop star — whose music has long coursed with inclusive, feminist ethos — paused once more to decompress from Tuesday’s midterm election, while encouraging fans to “stay vigilant.”
“I’m having so much fun. I feel like we needed this show, letting off some steam,” she said between a festive, girls-night-out rev-up in “Birthday Girl” and “Everybody’s Gay,” a glittering ally anthem with Thrillerized synths and squealing guitars. “How many people planned this show after Election Day like, ‘I’m gonna need this?’”
Based on the crowd’s rapturous response, more than a couple. Maybe music can heal the world — or at least cleanse our mentals — one flute solo at a time.
