(Credit: Katy Nguyen)
During my time studying abroad in England, I was fortunate enough to see Faye Webster live at the Albert Hall in Deansgate, Manchester! Her May 12th show was an intimate set with a pedal steel guitar, twinkly lights, and all of us concertgoers gently swaying into the night.
These days, everybody knows Faye Webster. If you don’t know Faye Webster, you probably know someone who does. This Atlanta-based artist is someone you might’ve heard in passing, with songs like “I Know,” “Kingston” and “Right Side of My Neck”.
These are some of her songs that speak so tenderly of love, budding or long-standing. She sings of how sweet, precious, and new it can be. She even sings about how quiet and upsetting it gets, too. Regardless, Faye Webster’s crooning voice and her delicate lyricism makes one feel as though love is always around the corner in all kinds of forms: fleeting, waiting, and lasting.
Besides her musical capabilities, she’s a pretty cool person, too. From her love of Pokemon to her yo-yo collection to her friendship with Lil Yachty, Faye Webster is a vibe.
Webster’s music is not limited to any singular genre, though. Her music encompasses indie, folk, soft rock, and alternative country. That’s right, alternative country. Her unconventional blend of genres makes for a curious, groovy, and dreamy listening experience. When I found out she was going on tour, I was teeming with delight. It was going to be my first time seeing her! I didn’t know what to expect.
On the day of, I was walking to the venue when a downpour of rain came out of nowhere. No matter, no unpredictable weather was going to dampen the experience. The venue itself was grand with a ceiling so high, you had to crane your neck a bit to take it all in. It’s a relief that the concert was held in such a big concert hall because it seemed every hopeless romantic was there. Packed inside the concert hall, the lot of us huddled in the pit together, anticipating for the lights to dim... and they did.
(Credit: @aaronhendry_02 on Instagram)
Faye Webster’s opening act at this show was Benét, a Virginia-based indie musician. While I wasn’t too familiar with his work, he was a joy to see on stage. Benét was friendly and warm as he spoke in between his performances, tuning his acoustic guitar. We all lit up when he mentioned how it was his first time in England. His music is soft and contemplative as all of his lyrics come from the heart.
My favorite songs from his performance were two highlights from his most recent album, Can I Go Again? titled “Overpowering” and “Things Change.” As the song titles might suggest, Benét sang about a certain nervousness and desire that comes and goes when falling for someone and overcoming them with a stronger sense of self. Benét’s voice is gentle and rich, with each word giving the listener something to hold onto. Listening to his smooth voice and watching how he carried himself with a shyness that settled slowly into ease as the set carried on made me think about the vulnerability of a singer-songwriter. There, Benét created an intimate atmosphere, physically and sonically.
When his set came to an end, the stage went dark. The anticipation was eating at us! You could pick up on the excitement in the surrounding voices as my fellow concertgoers murmured amongst themselves— what songs they wanted to hear, which ones were in their current rotations, how many times they’ve seen her, etc. After another 10 minutes or so, members of the band slowly appeared on stage and a rush of adrenaline made my heart race. Everybody was cheering, eager for the awaited Faye Webster to come to the stage, front and center. All thoughts in my head melted away as I watched her step closer to the mic. Next thing I knew, the gentle, whisper-like guitar motif of “But Not Kiss” filled the air.
The stage glowed in blue and the crowd sang along to a song that describes the conflict of an uncertain romance. The song went in and out of the longing to reach out and hold on for something more lasting from the slowness and intimacy of desire, to the rush of fear and asking for too much. It was the live instrumentation that amplified such wants and desires even more— a dramatic and abrupt keyboard nearing the point of dissonance but never quite reaching it, a pedal blurring the line between a friend and a lover, and a set of drums with cymbals that crash at never being able to come to a resolution.
Despite performing a handful of songs off of her freshman and sophomore albums, Atlanta Millionaires Club and I Know I’m Funny Haha, this concert celebrated the release of her latest record, Underdressed at the Symphony. This new album feels more personal than her previous ones. She explores a newer intimacy in her experimentation with sound and silence, letting her band take over and fill in on what can be hard to express in words. She plays with time and distance— how long a song can be, how close we can hear her, when it’s time for a song to end, etc. It translates brilliantly to her presence in a live performance.
Up on the stage, Faye Webster and her band enchanted the audience with a performance that was both ethereal and grounding. She is charming and welcoming in between all of her songs, switching from one guitar to another, and tuning them. With Faye, there were no pretenses, nor was there any rush to go from one song to the next. All of us took our time getting ready with her.
When she performed “Thinking About You” and its titular lyrics repeated themselves again and again, a part of me mellowed out and let the wave of the musical outro wash over me. Experiencing the twinkling of the glockenspiel, the playfulness of the piano, and the warmth of the electric bass live only added more layers to the listening experience of the song. Sometimes, someone’s on your mind, and Faye Webster was able to translate this loving experience into a sound, a song so very well.
(Credit: Katy Nguyen)
As a throwback, Webster performed a fan-favorite, “Right Side of My Neck”. The stage lit up in purple and magenta and there was no holding back of the grins that stretched across everybody’s lips. Her blend of soft-rock and country with sweet electric guitar riffs and the smooth dancing of the piano keys is wonderful and full of life. Even more, who knew the pedal steel guitar could sound so incredibly romantic? I was beyond giddy to hear this song live for the first time. Everybody in the crowd was singing their hearts out, too. Friends dancing with each other, parents feeling nostalgic for the 70s, and couples kissing each other sweetly on the cheek.
Then, when she sang the first words to “In A Good Way”, I swear the room swelled with emotion. The fingerpicking of the guitar was sharp, relaying the tenderness and the heart of the song with great clarity. Faye’s feathery-light vocals pulled at the strings of my heart; it trembled and soothed all at the same time with this deep sense of love and acceptance. “I didn’t know I was capable of being happy right now, but you showed me how”— how does a line like that not get to you?
(Credit: Katy Nguyen)
Sultry and smooth with pretty strings and a velvety piano, this song was fuzzy and warm like that feeling you get when enveloped in a big hug. Then, the guitar whisked us off with a solo so peaceful and melodic and charming. The stage was lit in a cobalt blue found in Van Gogh paintings and created an ambiance evoking thoughts of an evening stroll with love in the air. We sang the repeating choruses with her, some stood still and others held onto one another. This song was saccharine sweet, just how I and many others liked it.
15 songs later, our time with Faye was coming to a close. She finished with “Kingston,” a song where the guitarist slid his steel bar on the necks of the pedal steel with loving ease. Everybody sang a bit louder and I felt the corners of my lips go up yet again. The expressive and soulful saxophone coupled with the mellow and pleasant piano made the room glow with joy.
(Credit: Katy Nguyen)
“Kingston” glimmered with hope and love and all things sincere. Webster’s lyrics are heartfelt: “It’s the thought of you that slightly scares me, but it takes my breath away— forget what I was gonna say”. Webster expressed a shyness and fondness tinged with yearning, and it tugged at me in a way I didn’t mind. I don’t know much about Kingston, but I do know what it’s like to fall for someone and the accompanying longing to be with them whenever and wherever. By the end of Faye’s performance, we watched as the watery-blue lights faded to black, moved by the beauty and wonder of the past three hours we’d spent together.
I left the venue reeling in the magic that was Faye Webster. All of her original recordings were already amazing, but seeing and hearing her live was breathtaking. Looking back on it, perhaps part of why I enjoy and partake in Faye’s music much more now is because of how unfeigned it is.
There is no holding back in love, and there shouldn’t be. To be able to think and describe and sing about love in simple and beautiful expressions is truly the musical way to my heart. All through the night, my heart grew bigger and bigger until my chest couldn’t take it. I love love, and Faye Webster was able to resonate my appreciation for it that much more.
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