Arlo Parks takes over the Fonda with a stellar performance

An intimate atmosphere and jaw-dropping performances by everyone involved made the Arlo Parks concert Sunday night at The Fonda Theatre a fantastic experience. The show was a part of the British artist’s “Collapsed in Sunbeams” North American tour. 

The Fonda Theatre’s smaller size created an intimate feel that suited her slower, more stripped-down songs. Even with a sold-out concert, Parks managed to forge a personal connection between herself and the audience. 

The concert began at 9:00 p.m sharp. The opening act, Puma Blue, did a 40-minute set with Cameron Dawson on bass, Ellis Dupuy on drums and Harvey Grant playing the saxophone. Their jazzy alternative R&B set quickly won the audience over. When they went all out, the sound felt like it should have overloaded the senses but instead was a euphony of music. 

Twenty minutes after Puma Blue’s set, “Green Eyes” started playing. The curtains went up to reveal Parks’ band performing without her. After a minute, to deafening cheers and screams, Parks arrived on stage, green lighting accentuating her red-dyed hair as she began to sing with live vocals that sounded identical to her studio music. Her insane vocal performance persisted for the entire hour-long set. At the end of “Green Eyes,” an audience member gave Parks flowers that she placed by the drums for the rest of the set. Her attentiveness to her audience allowed every attendee to feel a connection to her. 

Parks entered immediately into “Portra 400,” and the lighting shifted from green to purple. The trumpet came in strong during the outro which electrified the performance and brought the song to a completely different level. 

Following “Portra 400,” Parks told the audience to respect each other’s space at Arlo’s house. At the same time, she wanted to see wild, gyrating hips and for people to go feral for the next song: “Caroline.” The crowd obliged, as the chorus of “Caroline” produced the loudest cheers of the night as the audience serenaded Parks while she held the mic out encouraging them to get as loud as possible. 

“Bluish” marked the end of the first part of her set. The brass section left the stage as Parks pivoted towards a more chill vibe with “Eugene.” Parks dedicated the song to all the bisexuals in the building, which produced some hollering from the crowd. The crowd screamed the lyrics back to Parks in harmony, “Read him Sylvia Plath, I thought that was our thing.” 

Next, she introduced “Angel’s Song,” a song she wrote at 16 years old which she said was inspired by Sufjan Stevens, Elliott Smith and Joni Mitchell. Their influence was obvious, and her performance felt different from the rest of the show; it was just her and the guitarist with a spotlight on them. The crowd responded in kind, replacing their dancing with swaying as the emotion felt by the audience was palpable.

Before she performed “Black Dog,” which she called one of the most important songs she’s ever written, Parks led the crowd in a call-and-repeat of her mantra that she says to herself before every show, “I am lucky, I am loved, I am brave, I am in control.” The crowd happily obliged, and this moment bonded all the strangers in the crowd. The bassist and drummer came back with their instruments and Parks got almost too into it during a jam at the song’s end, where she tripped and fell while dancing, but she laughed it off.

“Sophie” brought the crowd together as they did an arm wave for the entire song, joining as one to make a very special moment. The song finished with a minute-long guitar solo that had the crowd fired up. Parks thanked the crowd for being loose and shaking their hips before going into “Hope.” She immediately left the stage at the song’s end, followed by her band.

The crowd chanted for an encore, and just a minute later, the band returned followed by Parks to riotous applause. Before starting “Softly,” she thanked the crowd again for coming to the show and enjoying her music. “Softly” caused the biggest reaction. Although there were songs where the crowd sang louder, this was the song where the attendees got the most hype, jumping around without a care in the world. She thanked them one last time before leaving the stage, leaving her band to jam out one final time.