GETTING HER START ON Soundcloud and Bandcamp, Massachusetts singer-songwriter Claire Cottrill, known as Clairo, played a sold-out show at Danforth Music Hall on Nov. 16, just two years after her first officially released song.
Clairo is, by definition, a viral star. She rose to fame in 2017 with lo-fi, DIY-esque indie pop, and alternative R&B songs such as “Pretty Girl” (which currently has over 42 million views on Youtube) and “Flaming Hot Cheetos,” defining — and arguably creating — a new genre of music called “bedroom pop.” Since then, it seems that she has been making all kinds of waves through the indie and alternative pop centered music industry.
However, once Clairo began her set, it was clear that she is no longer the bedroom pop artist she once was. Her vocals and lyrics came to the forefront of the performance, and unlike the versions on her debut album Immunity, her song they were more upbeat live, with more of an indie rock sound, rather than the piano or R&B focus. Although, it was still a very emotional show. Clairo channeled the same alluring authenticity as she had in her early days into a refined narrative of the most vulnerable parts of her life, even pausing to cry a couple of times and thanking the crowd.
Clairo’s sweet, shy, and soft voice worked amazingly with some of the more lowkey instrumentals used in her live renditions. You could feel the emotions pouring out of her, especially in the passionate track, “I Wouldn’t Ask You,” where she sings of the dependence of relationships. The chorus, “I wouldn’t ask you to take care of me” is repeated throughout the whole song, yet every time she sings it, it feels like she’s saying it for the first time. Her songs were all the more striking when you realized that she really means what she’s singing about.
Throughout her performance, there were video projections — dream-like videos that changed from water droplets to mountainscapes with glaciers, to horses, to flowers, to waterfalls with rainbows, to stretches of old middle-of-nowhere roads — playing on a small screen behind her, adding onto the themes of nostalgia in her songs.
Being in the crowd surrounded by a younger audience, it felt as if Clairo was the only artist they ever loved and Clairo showed that love right back, pausing numerous times to tell the crowd how much she appreciated them. During her song “White flags” this energy was amplified when members of the audience raised homemade white flags made from paper and popsicle sticks that one fan had handed out to the line before the concert. Clairo was awestruck from this heartwarming act and when the song was over, everyone threw their flag on the stage, where Clairo and her band began collecting some of the flags as souvenirs for her own concert.
Nearing the end of the show the band left and went backstage, leaving Clairo alone sitting on a stool with just a guitar, telling the audience, “I only recently began doing this.” She then began to sing an unreleased acoustic song, which was a serene ballad that brought waves of tranquility across the crowd.
Being in the crowd surrounded by a younger audience, it felt as if Clairo was the only artist they ever loved and Clairo showed that love right back
Following the song, she too exited the stage for a brief intermission, coming back to do a three song encore: “4EVER,” “Pretty Girl,” and “I Don’t Think I Can Do This Again.” During “Pretty Girl,” instead of the usual background videos playing, the music video for the song that gave her viral stardom played. A ten-foot-tall projection of the then teenage Cottrill dancing in her bedroom with an awkward smile felt emblematic of the artist’s career. A sort of magnified look at the all too relatable young girl still in the process of figuring it out.
As the night closed out, the upbeat “I Don’t Think I Can Do This Again” gave fans their last chance during the concert to dance with their friends, and everyone took advantage of it. There was even a mosh pit (though it was perhaps the tamest pit I’ve ever been in), and it was a fun and lively way to close the night.
At a show that was likely the first concert for many, Clairo’s songs, with all of their slow intimacy and tender-hearted longing, seemed especially necessary in our increasingly fast-paced world. The night was a nice reminder of just how precious vulnerability can be and it was nearly impossible not to think about other firsts. First loves, first heartbreaks, and first losses.
