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BERKELEY'S NEWS • MARCH 20, 2023

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Maude Latour sparkles with vibrant vivacity at Rickshaw Stop

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Senior Staff

MARCH 18, 2022

Not every senior gets to throw their graduation party at Rickshaw Stop.

Practically buzzing with out-of-school ebullience on March 14, Maude Latour lit up San Francisco with spirited, summery energy. The soon-to-be Columbia University graduate packed the tiny venue airtight with day ones for the third leg of her first headline tour.

“Oh no, I’m melting through the furniture,” Latour sang with false alarm, her opener “Furniture” proving to be wonderfully groovy and slinky live. “Did someone turn the temperature up?”

Indeed, the venue’s temperature rose almost instantaneously. The alt-pop concert thrived as a sweaty, bouncy affair, led by Latour and her swinging pigtails. She shimmied off her sharp black blazer to cheers, revealing her glittery crop top: “I’m in a tank top, I tie my hair up,” she sang from old fan favorite “Superfruit,” a wide grin spreading across her face.

As people dizzily packed onto the dense dance floor, the stage seemed to expand with Latour’s infectious delight. She was truly buoyant, perpetually bouncing across the stage without pausing to take a breath — even the venue’s disco ball appeared dim in Latour’s radiant presence.

“You’re here to help me celebrate my graduation, right?” Latour directly asked her audience at one point, eliciting roars of youthful affirmation. “That means we’re gonna go as hard as f—!” Fizzing with energy like a sparkler, it’s no question that Latour’s imminent graduation fueled her celebratory exuberance.

While her idiosyncratic music isn’t always the most karaoke-friendly, Latour performed everything from her low fast-paced vocal runs to breathy spoken word verses with ease. She sang vocally challenging tracks “Shoot and Run” and “Starsick” with impressive breath control, and she overpowered the growling, enhanced synth at the end of introspective single “Headphones.”

With only two released EPs along with a handful of singles, Latour’s set list was relatively short, but she surprised the audience by performing two unreleased songs. The feminist pop-rock anthem “Lola” shimmered under ruby lighting, and the serene ode to spirituality “Trees” allowed the crowd to sway calmly.

The show’s most tranquil moment, however, came later in the night when Latour asked her audience to take three deep breaths with her in hopes of silencing the venue. As much as achieving total silence entertained as a challenge, there was also a particular magic to the unified quietness; the moment spoke to the trust between Latour and her audience.

Though most of Latour’s fans were around her age, the artist carried herself with immeasurable confidence and modesty. She held hands with crowd members during sentimental lyrics, formed hearts with their hands and paused between songs to take selfies with eager fans — all without missing a beat or disrupting the set’s flow. Often, right at a beat drop or just before a chorus, Latour would take a disposable camera from the crowd and snap the perfect selfie.

Latour’s conviviality made her feel accessible, and in spite of the show’s flickers of rave energy, her closeness with fans gave the show a more intimate, authentic feel. She laughed along with the audience when she nearly started singing a verse too early and when the opening piano chords for “Clean” were harrowingly off-key. Rather than detracting from the concert, these moments stood out as simply endearing, with audience members cheering for Latour’s charisma.

For the final performance of her main set, “Block Your Number,” Latour rapidly gestured for everyone to get low to the ground, building anticipation with the subdued, swift flow of the song’s lengthy pre chorus. At the chorus, the floor erupted into a full-fledged festivity — despite jumping along with her audience, Latour kept her vocals steady and lucid.

Chants for “one more” quickly turned into an expected encore of “One More Weekend,” and Latour soon reappeared on stage, now donning a burnt orange top. Her blithe, bubbly spirit filled Rickshaw Stop with elation one final time before she hopped off the stage left breathless and buzzing, the crowd would have done anything for one more weekend in the city with Maude Latour.

Taila Lee is a deputy arts & entertainment editor. Contact her at [email protected]. Tweet her at @tailalee.
LAST UPDATED

MARCH 18, 2022


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