Caroline Polachek @ Trix: Desire and loss

It is barely two weeks ago that we gave Caroline Polachek’s second album no less than five stars and yesterday the American artist played that record in a sold-out Trix. Desire, I Want to Turn Into You follows Pang from a few years back on and on the latest one we hear a much more mature artist, who knows exactly what she’s doing and goes on the attack without hesitation. Caroline Polachek also gave it her all live and with her band behind her she managed to make the audience eat out of her hand. We hoped in advance the freedom and boundlessness of Desire, I Wanna Turn Into You live and it was eventually simply transcended.

While the Trix longed for Caroline Polachek, her compatriot Doss was already warming up the audience. She took that assignment quite literally, because the DJ transformed the room into a dance club with her pumping beats. In the beginning there was some hesitation, but over time there was more and more movement. Her set included her remixes of “Music” and “Drugs” by Madonna and Uffie respectively, but many of the songs that were reviewed were quite unrecognizable. The solid beats often took the upper hand throughout the set and let the audience speak to the imagination.

Salvation. That was the feeling that raged through the Trix when the primal cries with which Desire, I Want To Turn Into You opens also echoed through the room. Polachek’s scream and the short ‘HÉ-HÉ-HÉ’s immediately set the tone and ensured that everyone was on the island of the American from the first second. Soon the inner singstars and Mariah Carey’s were brought out to even match the high notes in the song. The enthusiasm of the audience immediately continued in the somewhat sultry “Hit Me Where It Hurts” and soon the audience became even more exuberant with hits “Bunny Is a Rider” and “Sunset”, where the heat of the sun was so too much. feel was. The summery guitar in the latter provided a southern element and Polachek, like a squeaking nightingale, provided enchanting notes. Meanwhile, the singer moved smoothly on stage all the time and so those magical high notes were amplified by her arm movements.

‘Scorny’, it won’t be the word of the year, but Caroline Polachek said that the fusion of scary and horny she invented is the perfect description of “Crude Drawing of an Angel”. The song was a resting point in the dynamic set and let us take a breather before exuberant singing and moving along during “Oceans of Tears”. The power in this, and especially during the last part, made for cool moments and that trend was actually continued during “I Believe”, an ode to SOPHIE. ‘I believe we’ll get another day again’, it sounds and it makes us especially look forward to Caroline Polachek’s next performance on Belgian soil.

That this is the American’s first passage through much of Europe has not escaped her notice, as touring was virtually impossible after Pang was released. In the meantime, corona has subsided somewhat and to satisfy the fans of her debut album, the title track of that record was also brought to a successful conclusion. The fact that almost everything sounds like on the albums made it sometimes a bit predictable, but during “Blood and Butter” the bagpipes were replaced by a guitar solo. The unsurprising nature of the show apparently didn’t bother many fans, as many just wanted to enjoy the music and whether or not to dance and sing along

Towards the end of the show and during the bisection, the singer performed a few more dreamy songs, including “Hopedrunk Everasking”, one of her favorites, and the escapist “Door”. Of course there were also some catchy hits saved for the end, such as “Billions” and “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings”. Both provided a lot of atmosphere and the cool dance moves during Polachek’s biggest hit were a playful addition. A final goodbye was said with “Smoke”, and so the clearly grateful artist disappeared into the night and the audience was sent out into the cold air.

Caroline Polachek completed an almost flawless course in the Trix during her clean set. Not many surprises happened, but nevertheless her fans ate from her hands. It was the first time that the American came to Belgium and hopefully not the last time, because we would like to experience these kinds of performances. The atmosphere was there from the beginning to the end and the longing that Polachek sang about during the opening number was certainly fulfilled. Redemption and freedom seemed self-evident in the room and no one held back. We are only at the end of February, but we can already speak of one of the best performances of this year.

Setlist:

Welcome to My Island
Hit Me Where It Hurts
Pretty in Possible
Bunny Is a Rider
Sunset
Crude Drawing of an Angel
Ocean of Tears
I Believe
Fly to You
Pang
Blood and Butter
Butterfly Net
Billions
So Hot You’re Hurting My Feeling

Hopedrunk Everasking
Door
Smoke