Review: The Anything You Want tour, Lola's Room, Portland, OR, 4/14/24 (Eliza McLamb with Mini Trees)
In Portland, OR, sandwiched between the Crystal Ballroom and what I now know only as a prom venue is Lola’s Room. I found convenient parking right next to a highway exit, awkwardly asked the box office boy if I was in the right place and made my way upstairs, where I found myself in a modest room with a sizable bar, cool lanterns on the ceiling resembling the sun, and to my surprise, plenty of places to sit.
Who I was there to see was Eliza McLamb, an artist who is making a huge impact on me this year. The North Carolina-born indie artist released Going Through It this year, which is still in my regular rotation. I first saw Eliza at Wonder Ballroom, opening for illuminati hotties, whose front woman also produced this new record, and remember having been left with a positive impression. I have to admit, I felt pretty old here, amongst a crowd of mostly college-seeming kids and mid-twenty-somethings, this thirty year old woman felt like she stuck out. Still, I got into a groove, listened to the all Caroline Polachek off-set playlist and found my spot in the crowd.
Mini Trees, a three piece from LA opened the show, who also put out an excellent EP this year. Having now seen these songs live I think there’s a lot to the production value on the record, however it still rang true this is a band worth paying attention to right now. I also think the confidence in these new tracks is very clear live, front woman Alexis Koch seemed a bit more reserved on the cuts from older releases but completely came out of her shell when performing anything from Burn Out. During “Cave” she tried to teach the crowd the very simple, five word chorus, and a couple joined, me included. While I don’t think the crowd was totally invested I think it was more on the crowd than it was on Mini Trees. I also think they were a perfect opener for a tour like this and with a full length they feel equally strong about they’ll be a band who can command much more of a room.
Like I said, prom was going on right over Eliza’s head, but this didn’t stop her from giving it her all. An occasional joke about how we “should have all worn dresses” or a challenge to “out dance the teenagers” were put out there, and you could definitely hear the spring loaded floors over us. Prom aside, what struck me was how alike to the studio versions of the songs a lot of these performances felt. The set opened with “Before” and honestly with my eyes closed I would believe I was listening to the record itself.
Something I noticed immediately was how much the Eliza McLamb fandom is truly alive, especially amongst women my age and a little younger. I heard a lot of conversation about setlist wishes and a lot of singing along. Of course, songs like “Glitter” have easy to remember, fun to sing hooks, the “I want to kill your boyfriend” line even made it to a tour shirt. But it was more than just singing along. People screamed along to songs like “Doing Fine” and “Modern Woman.” “Salt Circle” was another setlist staple, Eliza talked about best friendships and about embracing companionship during the performance. I went alone to this one, so during this particular speech I felt it but with her energy on stage I was able to dance and have a good time. The following song was “Modern Woman” and, call me cliche, I felt really empowered. I’m in my fourth year of transition now and the thing forever echoing in my mind is having no idea what I’m doing. I think about every word I say, how I say it, how I move, every little thing is constantly picked apart. This song was my favorite from the album and listening, dancing, singing to it live I realized no one knows what they’re doing. Sure, I felt a little exposed in a crowd a little below my age bracket. I was also having fun, I made the effort to go down to this attic venue and wanted to have a good time.
This was my first crack at writing about a liveshow without the context of an album. My partner’s been trying to get me to do this for awhile and I already journal about every show I go to so I figured I’d give it a try. I think my analysis of Eliza from earlier in the year was correct, this is for sure her year. I think we'll be seeing her at the headliner level from now on and I completely welcome it. The Anything You Want tour will be over by the time this is out, but I urge you to listen to both these artist’s newest music from this year. I have a feeling they’ll both be on the year end list in December.
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