Some of my favourite live experiences of female artists

The atmosphere. The smell. The experience is the reason I love attending concerts and live music shows. It is different than listening to music on a device and engages so many different emotions. During the pandemic, live concerts were temporarily put on hold. Despite this, I thought I would share some of my favourite concert experiences by female artists, not only to reminisce, but hopefully spark excitement when concerts do return. The following list is in no particular order, and some of the pictures are a bit blurry as they all have been taken from my phone.

Florence and the Machine – Sydney Opera House

One hour prior to the concert, I had an unfortunate meeting with a seagull which could have ruined the night. I was waiting in line, eating a burger and the seagull attacked me. It got stuck in my hair while several seagulls circled around me. When I finally got loose from its claws and had lost my burger in that desperate fight, I got the most Aussie comment ever, “You alrigh’, mate?”, in which I knew this was going to be a night to remember. And I wasn’t wrong! Florence has such a presence on stage. The band plays the most magical soundscape, and it fits so extremely well with her strong vocals. It goes from a hard chest voice to a feather light head voice, transporting the audience to a dramatic world, filled with magic, darkness and love. She invited the audience in, singing along with her most famous songs such as “Cosmic Love” and “Dog Days are Over”, and then transitioned to newer tunes. At one point, she started taking off her clothes and passing them around, whilst inviting the audience to share that moment with each other by giving clothing or hugs. I felt that she made the concert an experience and brought down the barriers between people in a way that only she can. If you ever have the opportunity to go and see her, I will strongly recommend it even if you have to endure fights with birds beforehand.

Sigrid – London O2 Academy Brixton

Sigrid is a Norwegian artist, so of course my anticipation was high for this one, being Norwegian myself. And from the moment the concert started, I was, indeed, blown away. She started with her song “Sucker Punch”, which is literally a punch to the gut of a song. Her voice is extremely good, even live, and she manages to sound convincing in her delivery, even though she was jumping and dancing all over the stage. She had a good setlist which varied from upbeat songs to the slower ones and kept the audience wanting more. Her style was more like a standard concert where she sang the songs and had a bit of small talk in between; with the genre of her music, it was balanced well. I am sure she will continue to produce a lot of new music and she is touring globally, so chances are there will be many opportunities to see her live again soon.

Adele – Sydney ANZ Stadium

Oh, my, how this concert went over and beyond my imagination! I know, not super original, but the best way to describe what happened. I started listening to Adele in 7th grade when she was not a big artist. I can still remember we were asked to bring a CD to class, and I was that “weird” kid bringing in her studio album “19”, so it has been a long-lived dream of mine to see her live! The setting for this concert was very different then the other ones as it was a big tour and a big production. We were sitting down for the most part of the concert, which was actually fine as it lasted quite a long time. I was hooked, from the moment Adele went on stage; she wore a long black gown with no backup dancers and belted out “Hello”. As it was such a big stadium, she used the screens as visual aids as well as filming her up close and the sound was really good. I thought I knew all the songs as it played on the radio the whole summer, but seeing her sing them live, hearing the story behind them made them come alive in a new way. Also, her voice is incredible, and she sings everything live, which is really impressive. I don’t know if she will ever tour again, but fingers crossed that she will have another midlife crisis to write about and take the world by storm again.

Susanne Sundfør – Norway Stavanger Konserthus

This artist is probably my all-time favourite Norwegian artist. I can’t count how many times I have seen her live, and every time I do, I love every minute of it. She has a unique voice for pop-music and her lyrics are extremely deep and broad. She also plays the piano and has an amazing band playing with her. She has a strong female voice in the music industry as she turned down a best female artist award in Norway, saying that she did not care for it, as there is no such thing as “best male artist” reward, just “best artist”. She does mainly small tours and random concerts, but if you ever plan a trip to Norway, try and come in the summer months for one of the music festivals and you’re almost guaranteed to see her!

Aurora – Sydney

Aurora (another Norwegian artist) is currently trending on TikTok with one of her first written songs “Runaway”, but has been a big star in Norway for a couple of years. She has a lot of influences from Björk and her songs have a very magical and mystical soundscape. I have listened to Aurora for a couple of years and I was surprised when I saw her live and heard how powerful her voice was. Also, she is super unique on stage, where she looks like she is lost in her own music and dancing like there is no tomorrow. Her sister designs her clothes, which give her an even edgier and unique look and she seems content not being similar to other pop stars. Her concerts are a powerful experience and I think she will tour for many years to come, as she is gaining more and more popularity and inspiring upcoming artists, such as Billie Eilish.

Corinne Bailey Rey – Sydney

This was a very different experience than the rest of the artists I have mentioned. The whole concert felt like a jam session and there was so much improvisation and artistic flare that I got a whole new respect for this artist. She used a loop machine and made lots of sounds, and gradually built it up to each song. When she sang her most famous song “Put Your Records On”, she got the whole crowd joining in, and with all the extra improvisations and repetitions it probably lasted 20 minutes. I felt so exhausted after the concert as it required you to listen to all the aspects of her music, from the various beats to the harmonies which were out of this world. I absolutely would recommend her for anyone who would like a night out swimming in a pool of music and drink every drop like expensive wine.

Getting Back to Gigs

When people ask me, ‘What are you most looking forward when everything is back to “normal”’? I straight away tell them I can’t wait to see some live music again.

The sensation of having a warm-to-cool drink in your hand (depending on the venue), the feeling of the sub rumbling through your chest, dancing and singing with strangers because of the connection that the music brings, what could possibly stop someone from being infinitely excited by these thoughts?

I’ll tell you. Sexual harassment.

30% of female UK festival-goers have been victim to a form of unwanted sexual behaviour, that figure rises to 43% when you look at women under the age of 40. On top of this, only 1% of women told festival staff at the time or after the event, that harassment had occurred. (Prescott-Smith, 2018)

How could someone want to see live music, let alone feel safe when they have been told “such incidents should be expected in crowds of this size” or had experiences where “security staff shrugged their shoulders and took no further action (Hill, Hesmondhalgh and Megson, 2019).

This is not what music is about, something needs to change, and it is not the women who have been made to suffer this abuse; it is everyone else present at these concerts, whose prerogative it should be to create an environment where women can have the standard of enjoyment that others take for granted. I wholly understand the mindset people may have of why change, if I'm having a good time. Let me present to you this thought, change does not mean stop having fun, or don’t drink etcetera. In this case it means being aware of what is going on around you, being present in the moment, appreciate that you are not a victim.

If someone being harassed on its own is not enough to provoke action from you, firstly ask yourself, what do you actually stand for, if not the wellbeing of another human being? But if you somehow do not find a problem with your character, then let the music be the bond between you and another fan, whoever that may be. Do not allow the music to become tainted with the horrible actions of someone else who claims to be there for the same reasons as you.

Understandably, people may feel like they are unsure as to what they can actually do in these situations; obviously prevention is better the cure, however, just because it is happening/has happened, it does not mean that there is nothing left to do.

At this part of the article, I would like to iterate that I am not an authority on the procedures you should take, merely someone who wants to raise the issue ahead of what I assume is a time filled with mixed emotions, whoever you may be.

There is an obscene amount that could be changed about the gigs we were going to before lockdown; from actions venues and promoters could take, to the standards we hold ourselves to as concert-goers. My enjoyment of a gig would not increase because I prevented the harassment of someone else, that is basic human decency, it is the standards that we should hold ourselves to and if you do not consider taking action when someone is being harassed, then as mentioned before, really evaluate yourself and ask yourself why not.

It’s all well and good me preaching about doing something, but what is there to actually do? I believe the best place to start as a gig-goer would be:

“When it is safe to do so, gig goers should call out their friends’ and others’ bad behaviour. If the person on the receiving end wishes it, contact should be made with the designated member of staff.” (Hill, 2018)

Not that this is a preventative measure, but it does begin to cultivate the correct culture that should be present at live music events; that any form of harassment is wrong and it will be scrutinised, especially by the people closest to you. Measures that could be taken to prevent harassment from happening include that gig-goers should:

“get involved in the development of policies, procedures and training for preventing and responding to unwanted sexual attention at the venues they attend.” (Hill, 2018)

Having the line of communication open between concert-goers and the people running the events is key, because only then will both parties understand the perspective of the other. Once that has been established, we can all work to create an environment that is not only safe but welcoming to all who wish to listen to music without encroaching on others’ experience.

Implementing music in your child’s life- with Dr. Helen Julia Minors

In a recent podcast interview with Dr. Helen Julia Minors, alongside my co-host Ronnie, I asked what we as parents could do in order to implement more music into our children’s life. I learned 4 really interesting things I wanted to share with you, as well as suggestions for how to utilise these tips. If you wish to learn more about the incredible Dr. Minors you can access her website here.

Also, listen here to part 1 of the podcast! And stay tuned for part 2.

1. Variety is Vital.

A top tip from Dr. Minors is variety. She suggested listening to something out of the ordinary, like Indian classical music, music from Singapore, or from wherever in the world. By doing so the children get used to more forms of different music literacies. We are more likely to accept differences if we hear it and see it more often. Dr. Minors suggested YouTube or Spotify for finding music from all over the world for the children to listen to. Down below I have attached the premier of a Kids Music Café: Around the World. In the video, you can hear music from all over the world performed by excellent musicians including guided movements and interesting facts along the way. As Dr. Minors says on her own radio show, ‘you travel and go on your journey, without leaving your seat.’

Image of clip from Kids Music Café: Around the World Access the video here.

2. Utilise the Utensils.

According to Dr. Minors, using whatever you have in the house or available to you, to create instruments, is a wonderful practice for your child. You can use pots, pans, kitchen utensils. The only limitation is your imagination! At Beat Goes On you can locate free resources for body percussion and Zumba drumming.

Image from Beat Goes On webpage.

Access the page here.

3. Bring your Boldness.

Dr. Minors said it is important encourage your children to be bold and break the rules when making music in order to create something new. She gave the example of how Jazz and harmonies was not created by someone who sat down and wrote it out. Allow the music making to happen, and whatever it sounds like, encourage it! Which leads us to our final point.

4. Cultivate Confidence.

Dr. Minors emphasises the importance of when your child is doing some form of music making, tell them “Well done!”. Give positive feedback and reassurance. This grows their confidence, and it is good as it will be their own voice.