Lights Lit Up NYC

John Campise
Mar 17
3 min read

On the dreadful 'Friday the 13th'... Lights brought her Come Get Your Girl Tour to the iconic Irving Plaza in New York City with special guests Softcult.

After letting an hour pass for fans to get in, buy drinks/merch and just hang out for a bit, the Canadian-based grunge duo Softcult got the night started. For almost 40 minutes, Softcult had everyone's attention. The duo's ability to switch between their mellow/shoegaze style with songs like "Drain", "Pill To Swallow", "16/25", "Not Sorry" and "Naive" to the loud and noisy grunge style on songs like "Tired", and "Love Song" was nothing short of incredible. Drummer Phoenix Arn-Horn was going to town on the drums and their twin Mercedes' hypnotized everyone with her tranquilizing voice. The twin's incredible fusion of loud and melodic made for a great start to the night.

Lights was ready to take the stage and Irving Plaza erupted in excitement. From the second she hit the first note to "COME GET YOUR GIRL" the whole room was off their feet. The fans joined Lights in singing along to every single word and clapping their hands. Old school fans were given a special treat in the next song "River" from her 2009 album, The Listening and the fans were just as loud as before. The energy continued into "Ghost Girl on First" and "Running With The Boys".

Lights' set consisted of songs off of not just A6 but all six albums she has released. After vibing out to the new song "The Other Side of the Door", Lights broke into a melody of two Siberia songs, "Timing Is Everything" and "Flux and Flow" and then went into the crowd to jump with everyone to "We Were Here" from Skin & Earth. She didn't stop there though as she then played her two collaborative songs, the danceable hit "Love Me" and the electronic MYTH collab "Batshit". Lights then broke out her gaming chair and sat while singing "FINAL ROUND". Lights slowed things down for a bit after putting everyone in their feelings with the soul-touching "Piranha" and donned out her guitar for a reimagined performance of "Toes". The whole room was filled with emotion as they sang along to every word. She then broke out into song and dance with "Damage" and "Prodigal Daughter". The party kept going with "Okay Okay" and everyone was off their feet and singing along to every word.

Lights has been changing her set up every show, swapping songs out and even playing different cover songs. New York was blessed with the songs "Almost Had Me", "The Other Side of the Door", "LEARNING TO LET GO" and with Lights covering "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut From the Team)" from New York's very own; Taking Back Sunday. With three songs left in the main set, Lights made sure everyone was still giving her their energy with "Surface Tension" but then slowed it back down with "Almost Had Me". Not wanting to end it on a note like that though, Lights brought the energy back up and ended her main set with the energetic "Alive Again". The whole room screaming out "THIS MIGHT BE THE NIGHT THAT I DIE AND I DON'T WANT TO DIE ALONE!" was very electric. She finished the song and let the crowd scream the hook out one last time before walking off the stage.

Lights came back on stage for two more songs but didn't came back alone. With her, she had her Keytar and with it, she played the signature intro to the next song which was one of her most popular ones; "Up We Go". Everyone got excited when she played that infectious intro and wasted no time singing along. Lights finished her set off with "EDUCATION" and the fans let out all of the energy they had left. At her command, fans started lifting others up on their shoulders as Lights brought her electrifying performance to an end.

Listen to/buy A6 Extended here.