Lights & tiLLie take over St. Louis

Even a broken foot couldn’t stop Canadian alt-pop musician Lights from making her way through Delmar Hall in St. Louis on April 26th. Strapped up with a rockstar-worthy walking boot, this multifaceted talent took to the stage and owned every inch of it, all night long. That intense level of dedication really came through in the performance, not slowing Lights down one bit, which made the night that much more of an enjoyable experience. 

Lights is currently paired up on tour with tiLLie, a young new face in the pop rock scene, who is gifted with a sweet and cheery sass that will kiss you on the cheek one minute before biting your ear off the next. This rocker in a schoolgirl dress will absolutely not hesitate to give you the middle finger with the biggest smile on her face, and then turn around and write a killer rock tune about the whole experience.

She has fun and that’s really all you can ask for from a performer, right? 

Lights opened up the evening gifting those in attendance with “Prodigal Daughter”, the top single release off of her newest album PEP, a 13-track album full of unashamed and unrepentant anthems. Throughout the entirety of the show, Lights was able to display an impressive and mature vocal range. The singer-songwriter showcased that she had only aged like a fine spirit and could very much still power through songs with the same breathy pitch and energy as she was able to do almost 15 years ago, back when her debut album dropped in 2008.

A veteran of the music industry, as well as an experienced graphic artist, Lights’ iconic style of mixing graphic novel-esque artwork and deep, rich storytelling into her electro-pop music was made vividly clear in the design of her stage set. Bringing the graphic arts aspect to life on large LED screens, the audience was treated to assorted illustrations telling the story of various songs being played throughout the night. Now, the night was by no means flawless. As you can always expect, there were some technical issues when the electric drum pad decided it didn’t want to work, but Lights easily and comically played it off while still singing and laughing, letting one of her techs address the issue.

It made for a fun little break in the evening, while things got sorted out. 

The audience was filled with fans who, you could tell, had spanned her lengthy career right along with her. It seemed as though no age range was left out of the Lights fandom that night. Everyone was singing along with all the songs, no matter if they were released a month ago or 10 years ago, and each song had an iconic place in the crowd’s collective heart. Lights and tiLLie are currently still out on the Baby I’m Back Tour, so be sure to grab your tickets while you still can. Also, don’t forget to check out the newest album from Lights, PEP, available everywhere now. 

Photography by Thomas Semonco

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