Arlo Parks’s Soft Machine Helps Bring To Life a World I Want To Live In - Live at Beanfield Theatre.

Shot and written by Eva Lynch

March 26th, 2024

Montreal, QC @ Beanfield Theatre

Arlo Parks has a transformative quality to her music which is hard to put your finger on; it is profoundly melancholic and introspective, yet her vulnerable lyricism and message of hope allows you to feel your emotions while also learning to let them go. To me, Arlo Parks was one of the main voices of lockdown and her music makes me feel seen in a deeply impactful way. With her soft sincerity and vulnerable lyrics, she sings with bravery and knows how to wear her heart on her sleeve in a way that lets you into the shroud of protection she’s built for herself. I remember listening to ‘Eugene’ and ‘Black Dog’ loop for hours on end, as I wandered through empty parking lots and quiet neighborhoods throughout the pandemic. For many of us, Collapsed in Sunbeams quickly became our own coming-of-age soundtrack, as Arlo strikes a cord singing about embracing your impurities and sharing hope that things will one day get better and be alright, as we all struggle with similar emotions, from learning how to be alone to let yourself to trust, to pining from a distance and letting yourself fall in and out of love.

This is the third time I’ve tried to see Arlo Parks in Montreal. The first was freshly following the pandemic in 2021 when things were slowly reopening and she planned to play with MICHELLE at Petit Campus which was ultimately canceled. I then managed to watch her beautifully open for Florence + The Machine on a small corner of the stadium at Place Bell, where I watched her get showered with sunflowers over the course of her short but sweet set, so to finally see her live, at a sold out show at Beanfield Theatre is nothing short of cathartic. Unlike at Place Bell, this show was Arlo Park’s full vision come to life, as she has only grown in confidence and with experience over the past few years, and knows how to create a set which lets her energy and creativity shine, as she makes the stage simply come alive.

The stage is set up flush to the crowd, without any big amps blocking off people’s lines of sight, cleared to help make a dance floor in the center of the stage as she is moving around non-stop the entire show. Flanked by her three band members, Sam, James and George on the guitar, keys and drums respectively in a semicircle at the back; at the center of the show is her ‘Soft Machine’ which oozes with nostalgia with its retro looks and lit-up buttons which helps immediately transport you into Arlo Park’s world. Her honesty and vulnerability transcend the music and are amplified by the lack of barriers between you and the stage itself showing how everything she does, works to take away these obstacles and create a connection through her music. By her fourth song, when she begins her well-known hit ‘Caroline,’ she already jumps down to the crowd, perching on a barricade to sing the chorus with the audience.

She sings a mixture of music from both her first and second album, and take a sweet moment before each tune to say something about its process or inspiration, whether it's to dedicate ‘Black Dog’ to anyone having a bad day or year to remind them of hope when they’re at the bottom of the pit, and to take it from her who has climbed out of that pit, or to explain that Eugene was created as an homage to Radiohead’s ‘Weird Fishes,’ with its bass guitar that loops round and round, which is emphasized in its live performance as it ends with an amazing bass solo that builds and builds. In an interview with Reader’s Digest she claims that In Rainbows is probably the album you can hear the most in her music as she’s always been drawn to how vulnerable and cohesive it is, and it strips down Radiohead's experimentation and dissonance into simpler arrangements to create something very melodic and warm. Her love for Radiohead is no joke, as says this intro wearing her Radiohead shirt which reads, “Kicking Squealing Gucci Little Piggy.”

Like Eugene, many of her older hits are given a kick of energy on the stage as they take on their own live nature and are made bigger and bolder on stage, while also keeping certain songs as soft and somber as initially intended which makes for a dynamic show. On stage, Arlo brings a beautiful presence and clarity, where her talent for vivid storytelling lets you not only watch Arlo transport herself with every lyric she sings, but also reels you in and lets you envision your own version of events as she relives these songs and stories on stage. She paints a picture with her lyrics which manages to capture fleeting feelings and ruminative moments in our everyday lives. The concert is beautiful and energetic, and embodies Arlo's message of positivity and brings the spirit of her music to life through warm moving lights and her grounded stage presence, which is an absolute pleasure to watch unfold. This is Arlo unleashed and she is smiling the entire time.