Claire Cottrill, known by her stage name Clairo, recently had her first of three sold-out shows at Roadrunner in Boston. 

Prior to the start of the Charm Tour in September, Clairo released her first album in three years, which garnered her much praise for her new sound. Charm has collected over 300 million streams in just over three months and completely sold out her tour. To say things are going well for Clairo would be an understatement. 

All three of her Boston shows took place at Roadrunner, the largest general admission venue in New England. Due to the size of the venue, many fans arrived at the venue hours before the doors opened. One group of friends waited for up to 6 hours in 40 degree weather, despite having VIP early entry. A few packages were available for fans, one of them was standard general admissions, fast pass, and Charm VIP package. The VIP package included early entrance and access to merchandise, a tote bag with exclusive merch inside, and a commemorative laminate. 

Alice Phoebe Lou opened the show, and was met with fans screaming for her to play her most popular song Witches. Lou was an incredible performer, with beautiful live vocals. In between songs she also interacted with the crowd, asking them questions and even responding to one fan’s “I love you!” with an “I love you too.”

Then came the star of the night, Clairo. She opened the show by sitting with her bandmates as they poured each other drinks. This part was interesting because the moment the artist walks on stage is usually when the crowd gets the most excited, and the artist will adjust their equipment or wave to acknowledge the crowd in some way. But with Clairo, it was almost like the crowd wasn’t there; it was just her and her band hanging out which I enjoyed since it created a more intimate environment between the performers.

Clairo began performing and played some fan favorites such as Flaming Hot Cheetos and Bags. She also played some of my personal favorites, North, Softly, and 4EVER. As expected, her live vocals were phenomenal and it was a pleasant surprise for fans to hear the Charm arrangement of her older songs, adapting to her new style of having the vocals become an instrument instead of the focal point of the music. This seemed to be the main point of her new album, and it showed through her performance of the songs. 

The way she interacted with the band members spoke to this task perfectly. They danced along to the music, exchanged glances, making it clear that they were  all really into the music, and each individual played an important role in performing these songs. The layout of the stage itself also helped give each person their own spotlight as well, since each band member was spread out. To different parts of the stage and they also moved around the stage switching off to play different instruments.

There were a few issues involving the crowd that opened up a larger discussion involving concert etiquette. Again, this was a general admission event and people were arriving very early on in the day, and were then expected to be standing from the time of entry, around 6:30, until the end of the show which was at around 10:50. Due to these circumstances, combined with the substance use and thick crowds, there were about 4 people who lost consciousness during one portion of the show. 

Though this caused panic in the crowd, it was impressive to see how Clairl handled the situation. She went on to talk about her day and shared sentiments about being back in her home state. She also got down at the edge of the stage to interact with fans. In one interaction, she read the sign of a girl in front of me that referenced an inside joke within the fandom, and another girl had a sign asking Clairo to draw her a tattoo, which she did. Though her actions may seem like the bare minimum, over my years of attending concerts I’ve witnessed many medical emergencies, but I’d never seen an artist handle it with the same level of professionalism and kindness Clairo did.

Overall I think the show was incredible and both Clairo and Alice Phoebe Lou are some of the most talented artists I have seen live. It honestly comes as no surprise that she was able to sell out all three nights. This was my second show of hers that I have attended and I would love to attend more in the future. Even if someone doesn’t know her music I think this would be a great show to go to if they enjoy alternative or indie music. But due to the long lines and size of the venue, I would recommend attending with a friend, and packing lots of water, a jacket, and most importantly a pair of comfortable shoes.