Just a day after her first Met Gala appearance, Laufey arrives in Boston for two sold-out nights in the Boch Center Wang Theater for The Goddess Tour. Wasia Project opens for her, getting the crowd on their feet and requesting them to clap along to some of their songs. The group’s singer Olivia Hardy stuns the crowd with her powerful, smooth vocals, while her brother William Gao — who also stars in Laufey’s “Goddess” music video and plays the role of Tao in Heartstopper — displays his talents on the keyboard.
On May 7, Laufey enters the stage with a light jog as her pink and white tulle skirt flows gently behind her. The crowd roars as she takes her place behind the mic and the starry backdrop lights up. The show begins with a section of “Clair de Lune,” which is played by keyboardist Heather Rivas. The classical piece transitions swiftly into “While You Were Sleeping.” Behind Laufey is a half-moon-shaped, raised section of the stage where the various instrumentalists took their places. Immediately, her stage vocals appear to be more forceful than her studio versions and she maintains this approach for the majority of the show.
After the first song, she talks about how excited she is to be back in Boston and references her Berklee College of Music attendance a few years back. “Have you done your ear training homework?” Laufey asks the audience members who say they go to Berklee. She then picks up a cherry red electric guitar and begins “Valentine” as pink lights fill the stage. The string quartet and double bass make a notable appearance in this track, emulating the romantic content of the lyrics. For “Second Best,” the lights fall away to leave Laufey in the spotlight with her guitar for the first verse and chorus. The rest of her band eventually enters the performance, then drops away at the end of the song to allow for a rumbling drum and double bass interlude.
The old-timey layered vocals that begin the song “Dreamer” send the audience into deafening cheers. Before starting the first verse, Laufey removes her mic from the stand and slowly walks to the left side of the stage. As she sings, she begins her jazzy dance moves that show off the bubbly personality fans love her. Just like a ballerina, she lifts up her skirt for a bow and the crowd erupts. The crowd only hushes briefly, as the starting notes of one of her TikTok hits “Falling Behind” send the audience into a frenzy. Blue and white lights dance around her as she strums an acoustic guitar and the audience passionately sings along with her.
For “Dear Soulmate,” she holds on to her acoustic guitar and continues to trade in the softer vocals on the studio version for an effortless chest voice. She then switches heads over to the lone cello placed on stage and begins to play a stunning instrumental ending, reminding the audience of her cello-playing abilities that helped her gain traction on social media. She remains seated behind her cello for a cover of Keely Smith’s “I Wish You Love,” which features an intricately plucked melody. After receiving many ‘I love you!’’s from the crowd, she replies with “I love you all so much…but here’s a breakup song” and begins “Promise.” Her band’s instrumentals swell with her passionate vocals, allowing the audience to feel the pain of wanting someone you can’t have. Her floating head voice and the light strikes of the piano keys also encapsulate the defeat one feels when heartbroken.
At this point, Laufey has migrated to a grand piano that is placed center stage on a platform with lit-up stairs. She begins and ends “Never Fall in Love” with segments of “Misty,” displaying her piano-playing skills. “Let You Break My Heart Again” begins the section of her setlist that includes the songs originally recorded with a full orchestra. Laufey on the piano paired with a string quartet creates the emotional atmosphere of the studio version. As she continues with the classical portion of her discography, “California and Me” begins with an ethereal piano introduction. Her well-sustained vocals pair effectively with the piano arpeggios and staccato violin.
Her recently released track “Goddess,” proves to be a live stand-out. The song starts with her alone on piano, exploring the deeper end of her vocal range for the verses and exhibiting a well-sustained falsetto through the choruses. She belts the intense bridge with unshakable confidence as the band crescendos with her, leaving the crowd in awe. Stepping away from the piano, she picks up an electric guitar and begins “Fragile.” At this point, it’s clear her fan base contains plenty of musicians, as the audience has nearly perfect intonation throughout the show.
For her album’s title track “Bewitched,” Laufey contributes additional vocal elements to the song that build on its theme of romance through audible swirls. In an abrupt shift from a track that details being in love, Laufey asks “Have any been in a relationship type thing?” and quickly follows with “Probably not because you’re at a Laufey concert.” The crowd bursts into laughter as she begins “Bored,” a song off of the newly released deluxe version of Bewitched. The song harps on boring subjects of affection, but is contrasted by the vibrant lights that fill the stage.
“From The Start” once again excites the audience and elicits a deafening burst of screams. Laufey once again lifts the mic off the stand to walk along the stage and interact with fans as she sings and dances. She then brings out her beloved twin sister Junia to play violin for the vocally scatted solo on the studio version. Once Laufey begins singing again alongside her sister, she pauses and bends down to say “You stole my shoes!” The pair finish the song together alongside her band, which ends with an impressively sustained note and a lyric change to “Boston, I’ve loved you from the start.”
For the encore, Laufey gleefully returns to the stage to sing “Letter To My 13 Year Old Self” and gives the audience an inspirational speech, encouraging everyone to follow their dreams and not be so hard on themselves. Just after she sings “Little girls will scream your name,” the crowd yells her name in unison and immediately brings a smile to her face. To end the show, Laufey chooses to play “Street by Street,” a song she wrote about reclaiming Boston after a boy rejected her while she attended Berklee. “I think I can say that I have,” Laufey says, humbly acknowledging her two sold-out nights. Her jazz vocals are on full display for this track, containing a roundness that fills the theater. Leaving the stage, Laufey gives a final wave to the crowd, bows and blows kisses as she jogs off stage, expressing her gratitude one last time.
If you didn’t catch Laufey in Boston, she’ll be back in New England this summer as a headliner for the Newport Jazz Festival on August 4. She will also be headlining All Things Go with the Kennedy Center Orchestra on September 28 in Columbia, MD.
Check out Samantha Davidson’s full gallery of photos from the show below.
