While on fall break my sister and I went up to Chicago to see the artist Clairo at the Salt Shed venue.
Clairo is an indie artist who really picked up speed in 2017 when she released her song “Pretty Girl”. Since then she has released three albums – Immunity, Sling, and Charm. This year Clairo released her newest album “Charm”. Clairo began the Charm tour on September 6 in Los Angeles and plans to end in Manchester on March 20, 2025.
When I went to see the concert we parked at a parking garage which was a 15-minute walk from the Salt Shed. My sister and I got to the gates by 6:20 p.m. and at that point the line had already wrapped around the venue.
By 6:40 the line started to move as the gates opened. The line of people and security moved efficiently ushering people inside. For this concert, we got general admission floor tickets, and with the line being so far back I thought the close spots to the front of the stage would have been taken by the time I got in at 7:15. Thankfully, my judgment was wrong and I was approximately less than 30 feet from the stage with a great view.
This was the second night Clairo had performed in Chicago at the Salt Shed. For this set of shows the opening performer was Alice Phoebe Lou. She is a South African singer and songwriter who recently released her new single “The World Above” prior to opening for Clairos ‘Charm’ tour.
Alice Phoebe Lou started her performance around 8:10 p.m. Her opening song was “Touch”, which was released in 2020 as a single. Out of her 10-song setlist, she played other popular songs: “Open My Door”, “Lover / / Over the Moon”, and “Glow”. Halfway through the set someone fainted resulting in a slight delay, but besides that, it was a smooth opener. She ended the night with her most popular hit song “Witches”, which got a huge crowd reaction.
In between Alice Phoebe Lou and Clairo’s setlists, I went to walk around the venue to shop for merch. To keep my spot on the crowded floor I had to be quick with my tour, and because of that, I wasn’t able to get an album due to the line being stretched across the entrance.
When I got back to the stage I had to push and shove to get as close as possible to the front. Almost exactly an hour from when the opener came on, Clairo also walked on stage. She and her band tuned for five minutes before starting with “Nomad”, the first song off her new album Charm.
She played 10 songs off “Charm” out of her 20-song setlist. It was a phenomenal show in and out with her playing old stuff like “Flaming Hot Cheetos”, and things from her previous album “Sling”.
Included in her category she covered David Bryne, a guitarist from the band “Talking Heads” by playing his song “Everyone’s in Love With You” off his album “Look into the Eyeball”. Clairo saved her hits for the end of the night by playing the last album’s hit song “Amoeba” then “Bags” off her first album “Immunity”. For her final song she played “Juna”, her most popular song off of Charm.
After waiting two years to finally see Clairo perform live it did not disappoint. Both her and Alice Phoebe Lou put on great performances for doing back to back nights. The surprise cover was a great addition to the night as a Talking Head’s fan. My one complaint that I’ve heard echoed is the show etiquette. Lots of people were pushing to the front even when people were shoulder to shoulder. Overall, it was a great show from end to beginning, and the beautiful venue helped enhance that experience for me.
