Shortly before 9 p.m. on Saturday night, a barrage of fireworks spewed triumphant sparks and orange stars into the Austin sky. The UT graduation display — visible from Waterloo Park in downtown Austin — happened about 15 minutes after show opener, Katie Gavin, capped a wistful, countrified set by reminding the moms in the audience that their queer kids would be OK, and minutes before singer-songwriter Lucy Dacus took the stage.
It was a bonus hype builder that the master of soul-opening songcraft didn’t really need. With the Texas Capitol dome glowing behind the stage, Dacus took a crowd that skewed young, queer and female on an emotional 90-minute journey.
Here are five things that happened at the show.
She wrapped our feelings in her voice
A large part of the set was drawn from Dacus’ new album “Forever Is A Feeling,” but she sprinkled fan faves and deep cuts throughout the set. Opening with the 2021 personal reckoning “Hot and Heavy,” she strolled around the stage, voice dark and rich as her five-piece band wove melodies at her back.
Set against a high, lonesome violin accompaniment, her voice ached with desire on “Ankles” and was gauzy like the autumn wind catching on dried leaves as she chased the wraiths of relationships lost against a gorgeous interplay of piano and violin on “Limerence.”
She took us to a haunted gallery
The stage was set like a museum hall or an ornate receiving room in a grandiose home. Framed screens were sometimes illuminated with art. Images of Botticelli’s “Primavera” appeared during “Ankles,” while Michelangelo’s famous statue “David” hovered over “Limerence.”
When she sang about chasing the end of a relationship up a twisted mountain road on “Talk,” the screens became rugged landscapes. And near the end of the set, on “Lost Time,” the screens became windows, protecting the viewer from a storm brewing outside.
She sent love to Austin, and her mom
Hours before the clock rang in Mother’s Day, Dacus coaxed the crowd to make a video shouting “Happy Mother’s Day” for her mom because she forgot to buy flowers. Sitting on a gorgeous couch placed onstage for the set’s intimate section, she sang a quiet version of “My Mother and I,” a song she said she hadn’t played in many years.
She was effusive about her love for Austin. She recalled playing the South by Southwest Music Festival 18 times in 2018.
She remarked on the crowd’s enthusiasm and warmth multiple times. “I get the impression that maybe some of you guys have been tuned in since the beginning of this,” she said.
She reflected her fans in her stories
As Lucy Dacus flipped through the chapters of her life, unwinding anecdotes, it was clear many in the audience were caught in the moment. Though she makes music that is perfect for sitting on a blanket and gazing at the stars, even fans with seats stood for most of her show at Waterloo Park. Couples wrapped their arms around each other and swayed to the melodies.
“I just want to tell you all that my favorite part of my life is watching you guys sing to each other,” Dacus told the audience. “It helps me be not self-centered, realizing that, like, you guys have your own lives where these songs live, and they matter to you, totally separate from (how) they matter to me.”
Then she launched into a full throated rendition of “Best Guess” and the couples squeezed each other tighter.
She worked the ‘Night Shift’
Dacus handed out roses to the front row at the beginning of her encore. She shouted out her day one fans, and the crowd was pin-drop silent as she played her oldest song, “Trust.”
But of course she took the set out the only way she could, with the magnificent “Night Shift.”
The art frames transformed into broken televisions blaring angry red static as the band built one of the greatest breakup songs of the new millennium into a glorious cacophony of distortion and rage. Tears were shed. Ghosts were vanquished. And on a beautiful night in Austin, self-acceptance and perseverance reigned supreme.
Lucy Dacus in Austin: Setlist
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Lucy Dacus entrances Austin fans during a magical Mother’s Day ‘Night Shift’
Reporting by Deborah Sengupta Stith, Austin American-Statesman / Austin American-Statesman
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
