British award-winning artist Arlo Parks recently performed in Montreal at the Beanfield Theatre as part of the North American leg of her My Soft Machine tour. The concert showcased Parks’ talents as a vocalist, performer, and storyteller as she effortlessly switched between intimate, slower songs and high-energy performances.
Arlo Parks released her second album, My Soft Machine, in May 2023, and it was featured in Rolling Stone, Billboard, and the Associated Press’ Albums of the Year for 2023. The album contains elements of alternative, indie, and pop styles. Many songs, such as “Bruiseless,” include spoken word elements. The album is a testament to Arlo’s storytelling ability, with each song drawing on complex emotions and depicting detailed events. This allows the songs to communicate openness and vulnerability, which resonates with fans of Parks.
Arlo Parks started her 2024 North American tour for My Soft Machine in late February. While the concert mainly consisted of songs from this album, Parks included many fan-favorite songs from her previous album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, which she released in 2021. The show’s opener was Chloe George, a pop musician from Los Angeles, California. George opened the show with a high-energy performance of her most popular songs, including “Runaway Blue” and “Penny,” the title track for her 2022 EP. Through her impressive vocal performance and interactions with the audience that felt easygoing and genuine, George set the tone for the show to follow.
This mix of detailed poetic simile and blunt language is common in Parks’ work and helps enhance her music’s emotional aura.
Arlo Parks’ performance started with a rush of instrumentals to her song “Bruiseless” as the stage flooded with blue light before Parks entered. Despite the song’s short duration, it allowed Parks to start the show strong, showcasing her soft vocals and bold stage presence. The song itself is intensely vulnerable and highly emotional, drawing on a desire to return to a state of childhood innocence in the wake of painful experiences for herself and the people she loves. In the song, Parks employs a poetic, metaphorical style of lyricism mixed with direct and literal statements, such as “like a Peony ripped by the chain of a dirt bike / I just wish I was seven and blameless.” This mix of detailed poetic simile and blunt language is common in Parks’ work and helps enhance her music’s emotional aura. Despite the heavy subject matter of the song, Parks was able to deliver a high-energy performance, which would become characteristic of the rest of her show.
After performances of “Weightless” and “Blades,” Parks introduced the next song as an “oldie, but a goldie” as multi-colored lights switched to deep gold for her performance of “Caroline,” a song off of Collapsed in Sunbeams. This performance was where Parks’ ability to connect with her audience genuinely shined, as she made her way off the stage and in front of the barricades in order to get closer to her fans. As she performed this song, she encouraged the audience to sing sections of it. Although this song is not a part of My Soft Machine, the crowd knew every word.
Throughout the show, Parks offered deeper insights into many of the songs played throughout the performance, such as Eugene, which she stated was inspired by her “deep love” of the rock band Radiohead. Parks then transitioned into a performance of “Dog Rose,” which she noted was special to play in Montreal because it was written in this area of Canada. Parks explained that the song is about “the initial sparkle of a crush” when you desire to know everything about a person. “Dog Rose” is intensely optimistic, as Parks communicates through the repetition of the line “wanna belong to you / I’m sorry if that scares you, but I can’t help it.” Parks then employed a beautiful transition to her song “Pegasus” by lowering the music to a gentle, prolonged hum before slowly starting the next song.
However, Parks’ music is masterfully complex; in her sadder songs, there are moments of hope and joy, and in songs like this, which appear happier and more “danceable,” there is sadness.
Parks’ introduced her song “Too Good” by jokingly describing it as the “most danceable of [her] songs, but [her] songs are mostly sad, so that’s not saying much, but it’s something.” However, Parks’ music is masterfully complex; in her sadder songs, there are moments of hope and joy, and in songs like this, which appear happier and more “danceable,” there is sadness. Parks simultaneously describes the song’s love interest as “too good to be true” yet states “it hurts when you know it’s over / I feel like you never really cared” because of Parks’ partner’s stubbornness. Despite the song’s high energy and upbeat instrumentals, the undercurrent of intense vulnerability still remains.
The most emotional song of the concert was Arlo Parks’ performance of “Black Dog.” Parks dedicated this song to those going through a rough time who are “deep in the pit” and can’t see a way out. The song highlights Parks’ storytelling prowess through its depiction of watching someone she cares about struggle with a period of depression. Parks passionately sang “I’d lick the grief right off your lips” and “take a jump off the fire escape / to make the black dog go away.” This performance was a high point of the concert – Parks’ touching performance and the song’s subject matter resonated strongly with the audience.
Parks performed this song while dancing around the stage with her band, creating a moment of intoxicating joy and demonstrating Parks’ strong stage presence.
For two of the last songs of the show, “Sophie” and “Devotion,” Parks brought out her electric guitar to accompany her vocals. Despite this occurring roughly an hour into the show, these songs generated an immense increase in energy, both from Parks and the audience. Parks performed this song while dancing around the stage with her band, creating a moment of intoxicating joy and demonstrating Parks’ strong stage presence. To close the show, Parks performed her 2022 single “Softly” as an encore. Parks left the stage early during this song, allowing her guitarist, Dani Diodato, and bass player, Sam Harding, to take center stage.
Arlo Parks’ Montreal performance during her My Soft Machine Tour showcased Parks’ strengths as an artist. Parks’ vocal and lyrical talent allowed her to communicate meaningful stories through her songs, and despite the complex and often melancholic tone of her music, Parks maintained an uplifting and lively atmosphere through her performances.
