Photos and Words By Stephanie Nardi
LÈON brought her Fade Into A Dream Tour to a sold out Varsity Theater and with it, a little bit of magic. Accompanied by opener Catie Turner, these two women created a beautiful atmosphere to spend a night listening to music.
The easy nature of LÈON’s melodies embraced the crowd and enveloped them in a warmth that persisted until the final note. Her fans adored her, singing the lyrics of her songs back to her with arms raised and whooping and cheering as she danced through the instrumental sections of her songs. Slow songs such as “Head and Heart On Fire” and “Come Home To Me” were perfectly blended with more upbeat melodies like “Soaked” and “Baby Don’t Talk” to bring the fans on a journey that elicited all the emotions her music evokes. After finishing her set with “You and I”, she returned to the stage to end the night with crowd favorites “Tired of Talking” and “Surround Me”.
Even after apologizing for having a raspy voice from staying out too late the night before (singing to ABBA, who can blame her?) there was no rasp to be detected. She was a powerhouse executing her songs the same if not better than her recorded versions; riffing melodic runs and reaching her highest notes effortlessly. Her range has always been impressive, but it was even more impressive hearing it live and few of her songs showcased this talent better than “Hope Is A Heartache”. Her ability to achieve such rich low notes and effortlessly switch to high while maintaining the same fullness in the note shows the versatility and control she posseses.
There were a few technical hiccups during the show, but she handled them gracefully and didn’t let them affect her. To be honest, it was actually endearing to see. She handled them in such a way that this big venue turned into what felt like her studio and we as the fans got to bear witness to her working out the kinks and trying it again to get it just right. In some ways, it added to what made the show special and let the crowd see a very real side to the process of music.
This is LÈON’s first tour since the pandemic, and after releasing two albums in that time, Apart and her latest Circles, it was beautiful to see her take the stage again. Catch the Fade Into A Dream Tour in your city to experience the magic for yourself!
Impressions Magazine 