Lucy Dacus leaves St. Louis reeling in love

If you’re looking for something romantic for date night, here’s my suggestion — buy tickets to a Lucy Dacus show. Trust me on this one. If you enjoy listening to the indie band boygenius, then you most likely know that Lucy Dacus is the third member of the trio, alongside Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker. While Lucy has been a part of boygenius since the beginning, she has been making music as a solo artist long before then and St. Louis was one of the lucky cities that got to welcome her Forever Is a Feeling Tour.

The show was held at the gorgeous Stiffel Theater, with Slow Pulp opening.

Walking inside the theater, I was mesmerized by the rich colors of red velvet draping with gold accents decorating the walls. After a long and unbearably hot summer of outdoor concerts, I imagined this is what royalty must feel like. I was escorted to my seat and once settled in, I took a further look at my surroundings. For an indie rock concert, I was surprised to see so many people dressed up — some of which wearing actual gowns. “Am I underdressed?” I thought to myself. It was a fancy theater after all, but gowns? The thought left my mind as quickly as it appeared when Slow Pulp walked out from the wings of the stage. Little did I know, I’d have an answer to my question soon enough.

I’ve always enjoyed Slow Pulp’s music, yet there’s always something so different when seeing a band perform right in front of you. The sound is one thing; my Air Pods don’t quite have the same oomph as a fancy venue sound system. But it’s also about actually seeing the people who create the sound: you get a sense of their personality, hear them speak to the audience, see how they choose to dress. The dreamy and serene voice of Emily Massey carried through the theater — her vocal delivery delicate, yet purposeful. The muddy mixture of guitar chords fused with Emily’s ethereal vocals lean heavily into the bubble-grunge micro-genre of alternative music, sharing similarities with bands such as Mannequin Pussy and Soccer Mommy. Slow Pulp finished their set with “At Home” although this wasn’t the last time we’d see Emily onstage this evening.

Lucy Dacus had a beautiful and unique setup performance, with a large wall behind her band resembling the outside of a home. Lucy — in her traditional Lucy fashion — appeared onstage wearing her signature suit jacket, prompting the crowd to cheer with excitement before opening the song “Hot & Heavy”. As she sang, a variety of projections were displayed on the house backdrop, with images filling the windows like framed portraits.

Dacus created a warm and cozy setting for her audience; she even took occasional sips of tea!

Lucy brings a realness to the indie folk genre, with her soft candor and nostalgia-inducing lyrics taking you back to an old, yet familiar place in time. About halfway through her performance, Lucy made an announcement (which cleared up my earlier confusion about the formal wear): not only were we all present to see a concert that evening, but we were also all guests to a wedding — actually, multiple weddings! Lucy called out for her “special guests” to join her onstage; a group of couples, all dressed up in suits and gowns, walked out before us to be wed right then and there with Lucy ordaining!

There was nothing but love in the venue after that: love for the couples who tied the knot, love for those around us, and love for the music which brought us all there that night. As the newlyweds went back to their seats, Lucy sang “Forever Is A Feeling” to uproarious cheers. I cannot say I have ever been to a concert before that left me with that warm, fuzzy, loving type of feeling, but Lucy Dacus certainly provides it! So, like I said, if you are in need of a romantic night with your partner, see if Lucy happens to be in town. Who knows… maybe she’ll even officiate your own wedding, too!

Photography by Sean Rider; recap by Michelle Zigler

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