Faye Webster, the Atlanta-based artist recently wrapped up her “Underdressed at The Symphony” tour with a captivating performance at the historic Palace Theatre in St. Paul, returning to the twin cities for the second time since October.
The All-ages show at the palace was a fitting way to end her world tour, which kicked off in Australia at the start of this year and took Faye and her band across Europe and the US festival circuit, including Lollapalooza this past weekend. Despite the exhausting amount of travel and shows performed in those last eight (!) months, Faye didn’t seem to be all that tired of performing, and nobody in the crowd seemed to keep track. From the moment Webster launched into the wistful opener “But Not Kiss,” (including a custom animated “minions” intro only she could make cool) the packed house was under her spell, mesmerized by Webster’s lilting vocals and dreamy guitar work.
As she segued into fan favorites like “Thinking About You” and “Right Side of My Neck,” it became clear that Webster’s live game has leveled up since her last show in town. Her guitar playing was more assured, and at times, grungy. Her stage banter was still few (though still charmingly awkward), and the whole stage setup – complete with coin-operated laundry machines and bubble machines raining down on the crowd – had a playful, whimsical vibe that perfectly matched her mellow, lovelorn sound. Fitting too: her music is great for laundromats.
Webster’s backing band provided the perfect subtle, country groove-driven accompaniment, letting her lyrics and melodies take center stage, even when Webster’s meandering, diary-entry style musings on love and the passage of time had the crowd in a collective trance. The “Sunday scaries” melted away as she crooned about unrequited feels, especially during the epic build-up of “Jonny.”
Usually, the more mature Palace Theatre audience is a bit chattier, but not the all-ages crowd for Faye Webster. they were hanging on every word, focused on the stage, and phones down for the most part, even during the more meandering moments of tunes like “Lifetime.” Maybe it was the lack of a packed bar that kept the crowd noise to a minimum, but it was both rare and refreshing to see this kind of crowd focused.
For the encore, Webster returned with the upbeat “Feeling Good Today” she duetted with her best friend, before closing the night on a bittersweet high note with “Kingston.” Faye whisked us away from our workaday worries before gently lowering us back down to earth, a little more enchanted, and perhaps cleansed, than we were before.
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