During her solo tour this fall, Julien Baker, the 29-year-old Nashville-born artist, performed three consecutive, sold-out nights at Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco. I attended the last of three shows, on October 23rd, and witnessed Baker’s genius as a musician and performer firsthand. There is something very special about the transparency with which she presents herself and the deep emotionality that pours from her performance setting her show apart from many I’ve seen.
This tour was Baker’s first round of solo performances since her tour and awards cycle as a part of boygenius. The beloved group, made up of Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus, took home three Grammys last award season. The group announced their return to solo careers after the tour cycle, and Baker is the first of the three to tour. Baker stood at center stage and both played guitar and sang for the majority of the show. She was accompanied by a 5-piece band and played songs featuring violin, piano, electric bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, and percussion. The show began with a lovely, somber yet bright, ambient introduction to precede Baker’s arrival, punctuated by white rays of light cutting through the smoky red ambiance.
Baker began the set with “Appointments,” a fan-favorite from her 2017 album, Turn Out the Lights. The song was the perfect introduction to the show, covering the nuanced and intricate dualities of Baker’s music, often characterized by slow, soft, somber parts, and visceral, raw, explosions of emotion. The lyrics of Baker’s songs are deeply emotional and moving. She sings with such authentic movement, capturing every person in the room. The instrumentation on this song was steady and resounding, the violin played a perfect accompaniment of soaring strings alongside the vocals, and the crowd answered the first song of the night with resounding cheers and applause. The topics of Baker’s songs span from her background of profound difficulties with religion and family, as well as her experiences with queerness and mental health, capturing deep vulnerability in beautiful prose. This music resonates with her audience significantly, and the crowd met her with grace, support, and love.
Throughout the show, the lights paralleled the moods of the songs, shifting from deep reds to moody blues and gilded oranges. The stage was shrouded in smoke, allowing the beautiful shifting lights to travel through the room. The stage design created a gorgeous, almost divine, atmosphere around Baker, a perfect accompaniment to the otherworldly presence and movement of her performance .
Baker also played an unreleased song, “Middle Children,” using a looping technology alongside crowd participation to build the background music. She thanked the crowd for singing it with her; it was a beautiful moment of collaboration and connection between Baker and the audience. The setlist had an array of hard-hitters, but “Heatwave” (Little Oblivions), “Something,” and “Sprained Ankle” (Sprained Ankle) all stood out in their live renditions, showcasing the unique essence of Baker’s visceral vulnerability. She briefly reminisced on her musical history, and the release of Sprained Ankle, almost a decade ago, before singing the titular song, accompanied by many voices from the audience. Baker’s constant gratitude, connection, and conversation with the crowd created a gorgeous concert environment filled with so much love and care.
Review by Ava Hulett, photography by Molly Ho
