LAST NIGHT Lizzo, the gorgeous thick-bodied singer/rapper/flautist, played a sold-out show at the Doug Fir Lounge, and I feel so bad for all of you who missed it. Her all-girl Coconut Oil tour—with two mind-blowing openers, and a couple of “big girl” backup dancers—was an absolute stunner and a powerful, twerktastic, soul-enriching experience.
When I arrived slightly late, I grabbed me a Diet Pepsi, and was happy to catch some of the first opener Dizzy Fae’s set. Wearing blonde box braids in a high ponytail, and a T-shirt with a cartoon of a muscle man physique on its front and back, she used a voice changer and autotune for her trippy pop-inflicted songs. Quite the individual, Dizzy Fae’s set was both awesomely dramatic and “weird” (so you already know Portland loved her). Plus she was pretty hilarious on the mic and knew how to whip that hair like a pro. The Portland show marked the final stop for the singer on the Coconut Oil tour, so I’m grateful we were lucky enough to be exposed to her dope experimental artistry.
The second opener was DJ/emcee Sophia Eris. When Eris got to spinning cut after cut (from the Migos hit “Bad and Boujee,” to “Big Poppa” by Biggie), I merely thought she was Lizzo’s bomb DJ coming out to warm us up. Then she got on the mic and everything changed. Her style was somewhat derivative, reminding me both of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and Nicki Minaj), but her content was fresh. She would go into lightning-fast flows with ease and a razor-sharp tongue. And once again: Ponytail game strong.
To my delight, I was partially correct: Sophia Eris is also the DJ for Lizzo’s first headliner tour, and ended up performing a handful of songs with her. After not too long, Lizzo took the stage along with two curvaceous backup dancers (the Big Girls), and did a fully-amped performance of “Worship.” With unparalleled vocals she sang “hands to the sky/show me that you’re mine,” and it was a perfectly symbolic foreshadow for how we’d literally and physically be worshipping her by the end of her show.
Lizzo let us know she’d be performing every song from Coconut Oil, in addition to select tracks from Big GRRRL Small World and other projects. She went on to play a wondrous slew of songs that vary in topic, but primarily focus on self-love (“En Love” and “Scuse Me”), self-care (“Coconut Oil”), losing one’s “Phone” at the club, and “Batches & Cookies.” No flute-playing, but she did sing the flute section on “Coconut Oil,” and I particularly enjoyed her high-pitched operatics on many of her renditions. Despite how hot I was from dancing, she gave me chills at least three times.
She even took to the mic to discuss some of the bullshit that’s going down in this country right now, speaking on how she wants her music to be more than therapeutic for her listeners—she’s wants it to be activating. She preached to the progressive Portland crowd about the need for us to humanize each other, come together, and let all the compartmentalized struggles become our struggle. I approached the verge of joyful tears when she sang a beautiful rendition of “Humanize,” and then went fully over the edge a couple songs later. It was just so refreshing to see a big beautiful woman changing up the narrative of what women can and should do: You don’t need to look like Beyoncé in order to slay choreography, say no to pants, and look sexy on stage in nothing but a leotard and sheer tights. (Although, she and her dancers did throw on some of those now-iconic “Wild Feminist”tees from Wildfang.)
Lizzo was a true natural on stage, and spoke with the crowd like they were long lost friends. I loved how she didn't seem to be putting on an act at all (besides all the demanding choreography), but instead was just being unapologetically herself and in the moment.
My favorite part of the evening was when the crowd demanded an encore, which led me to discover that Lizzo—along with Caroline Smith—is responsible for that carefree and happy song “Let Em Say” that’s played during the bathroom-montage in Broad City’s season three opener.
After the show, I made sure to immediately follow both opening acts on Twitter and Soundcloud so I could keep an eye on them in the future. I love when I go see a stellar headliner and end up finding new up-and-coming artists to support as well. Lizzo said it best: “We’re an all-girl tour and we kick ass!” Then she promised she would always come back. And when she does, maybe then we’ll be old enough to hear about the strip club bar fight she and her posse caused. Until then, I’ll be stanning and waiting for my next chance to worship.
