Girl at the Rock Shows

What do you do when you have had a US tour planned for well over a year but, when push comes to shove, your band isn’t allowed into the country? Some bands would just cancel the tour, blame it on bad luck, and try again in the future, but that wasn’t what Kelsy Karter did. She flew across the pond from England, alone, and still performed the tour without her band. It’s a bold move and a truly difficult decision to make, but in the case of Kelsy Karter, it worked, and it worked perfectly. Before I get into Kelsy’s powerful performance, let me tell you about the two openers of the show on Monday night at the 7th Street Entry.

Getting things started right at 8 PM was Emi Jeen. This was this Canadian’s first full US tour, but judging by the reception of the packed audience, it surely won’t be her last. Emi is a pop singer, but she has a dangerous edge. What I mean by that is her pop style comes with a side dish of angst and aggression, but it’s hidden in the beauty of it all. Her vocals are insane, to say the least, and her energy was bubbly and infectious. All of this made for the perfect way to start an otherwise sleepy Monday night. Emi, like the two performers to follow her, wasn’t afraid to connect with the audience on a very real level. From getting a “girl-gang jump pit” going to spending a song serenading the audience from the back of the intimate room rather than from the stage, there was something striking and dazzling about Emi Jeen’s performance.

That ensnarement continued as Alexa Villa quickly replaced Emi. Again, I loved the mix of pop sensibilities and angst-fueled aggression that I got from Alexa. Her music had a bit more pop-punk influence than Emi’s, making it a homerun for me. Add to this the fact that Alexa was constantly giving the audience positive notes and thoughts, and you were left with a performance that left you dancing and feeling something deep in your soul simultaneously. Alexa said many quotable things throughout her short time on stage, but the one that really stuck with me was, “Your dream is your real job.” I know that’s a simple statement, but it can so easily get lost in the shuffle of everyday life. It wasn’t just the way she said this (with all of her heart), but it was the way the audience seemed to take it to heart. From that point of Alexa’s set on, there was this electric connection between the stage and the audience, as if Alexa had just made everyone in attendance at the show her best friend with that simple phrase. Sure, you could call it a bit cheesy and a bit cliche. I realize that just reading about this moment and how it changed the air in the small venue can’t be put into words, but trust me, Alexa Villa is one to watch. Even if you don’t like her music (although I’m sure you will), you will love her positive energy and down-to-earth vibe.

Let’s get back to Kelsy Karter. Kelsy Karter is the frontwoman of Kelsy Karter and the Heroines. As mentioned, The Heroines couldn’t make it to the US due to a super messed up and quite unreal story where they had been talking to a fake government official while sorting things out. Obviously, they didn’t know this person was a fake, but when push came to shove, and it came out that they didn’t have their paperwork in order, Kelsy was the only one allowed in the US due to her having dual citizenship or something of the like. Obviously, there’s so much more to this, and it’s truly an incredible and heart-breaking story that Kelsy talks about on her socials, so if you have a second and want to know more, go ahead and check it out. It will have you feeling for this woman and what this band has gone through over the past couple of weeks while also really putting her strength and conviction into focus.

Again, Kelsy could have just pulled the plug on this entire tour, citing that she couldn’t bring her band with her, but that’s not this woman’s style. She stands for strength and bad-assery and wasn’t about to let some terrible people ruin this for her. Monday night marked the fifth show that she was doing on her own. A sense of sadness and heaviness took the stage with her and tour manager Chris, who was lending a hand on guitar. It was not surprising to me, especially after reading her posts clearly showing a sense of defeat and depression earlier in the day, but I think it surprised me how much I felt for her. She started the set with a sense of power as if trying to push that sadness and heaviness out of the way but, after the first song, we witnessed her have the first of many cry sessions.

Why are we, as a society, afraid to cry? If your emotions are so heavy that all you can do is cry, you should do that. Follow what I say, not what I do. I get it. I sometimes have those days where all I want to do is cry but I hold it in until I get home and into the back corner of my closet as if embarrassed that I was having this moment. I think seeing someone as strong as Kelsy have these breakdowns on stage added a sense of personality to the bad-ass vocalist that I wasn’t expecting to get but was truly thankful to experience. You could literally see Kelsy bearing her soul and heart on stage with every break she had to take as she tried to choke back the tears. Whether this emotion was due to the stress of the entire situation of not having her band, the loneliness that comes with that, or just the pure frustration that she felt she wasn’t able to give the audiences she was playing for what they wanted, it led to more power than I had ever seen on the 7th Street Entry stage.

The crazy thing is- Kelsy doesn’t need a band. As soon as she started singing, I had dropped my camera to the side and felt myself moving closer and closer to the stage. She was drawing me in with her soulful voice that had this was of switching from smooth to raspy without skipping a beat and without feeling out of place. I don’t know how else to say it, but you could feel each word Kelsy was saying to the point where the set had turned into feelings for me, not sounds. It was powerful, stunning, and proof that she had made the right decision of continuing with this tour as a solo act. Sure, I would have loved to see her with a band because, if she has this much energy when she’s having a rough go at things, how explosive would it be with a full band, but, again, her set on Monday was beyond perfect.

I hope Kelsy Karter gets her Heroines back soon, but as she said on Monday. The Heroines aren’t just her bandmates; The Heroines are all of us, and I was honored to be one of Kelsy’s Heroines on Monday night.

Line Up:

Emi Jeen

Alexa Villa

Kelsy Karter

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 19

Crowd Surfers- None

Stage Divers- None

Mosh-ability- 6 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None Witnessed

Pukers- 0

Passed Out Kids- 0

Idiots Taken Out By Security – None Spotted

How Irritated I Was With The Audience – 0 out of 10

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

Emi Jeen– 0

Alexa Villa– 0

Kelsy Karter – 0

Celebrity Sightings – None

Overall Score – 9 out of 10

Show on Deck — Mindchatter / Familiar Face

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