A Night in the Andromeda: A Weyes Blood Concert Review
A magical, ethereal, but extensive night
By Ru Alonso
The night after I saw Jungle in Milan, I got to experience how wide-ranging my music taste really is by seeing Weyes Blood in the same concert venue, except this time, the venue was cut in half by a curtain. As an avid fan of music, I will go to pretty much any concert regardless of how well I know the artist, and this was one of those cases. Before this concert, I knew about 3 of her songs and decided to go anyway. Weyes Blood has been releasing music since 2011 and recently came out with her newest album, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow, in 2022. I got to the venue in enough time to hear her opener, Vagabond, a shy woman singing a soft melodic set to what I can only describe as “lo-fi beats to chill to.” Needless to say, I was missing Jungle.
After the opener, Weyes Blood took the stage with her band and gave us the hits right off the bat. She opened with “Children of the Empire” and “Andromeda,” 2 of the 3 songs I know by her. Dressed in a gorgeous white sparkly gown, she floated across the stage, much like her tone. One of the big reasons I am a fan is because of her tone. It is so pure and strong, reminding me greatly of Joni Mitchell. Throughout her set, I appreciated her interactions with her audience as she left time to chat with some of them, but sometimes it felt a little forced. Her visuals were stunning: videos of multicolored horses running across a huge plain and a collection of short clips from a YouTube documentarian she loves, and they were all as quirky as her. Now, as someone who is not a super fan and has lower back issues (tragic for a 21-year-old), closer to the end of her set, I started wishing the venue had a sit-down jazz club sort of vibe. I feel as though this would’ve allowed me to focus more on her set, but unfortunately, by the end of the concert, the songs started to bleed together as they sounded very similar, and the seven-minute run time of every song started to wear me down. I am glad I was able to see Weyes Blood live, but next time, I will be sitting.