Laufey Concert Review: “Everything I Know About Love” Tour
Image Courtesy of Mariah Solis
By Mariah Solis
With her contemporary classical music and multi-instrumentalist talents, Laufey enchanted the audience at Union Stage on Friday, September 23 during her Everything I Know About Love tour.
Known for her compelling vintage sound that combines jazz, classical music, and modern pop, Laufey has accumulated over 2.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify. At the announcement of her tour, Union Stage quickly sold out, and fans eagerly awaited hearing her music live.
Most of the crowd arrived fairly early to the venue and got in line for her signed vinyls and posters, as well as the various t-shirt merch designed by Laufey and her identical twin sister, Junia, who is sometimes present in Laufey’s social media videos. While people mingled before the concert, several fans were pleasantly surprised to meet and talk to Junia before the show started. As everyone began to crowd around the stage, the audience’s excitement grew palpable.
The concert opened with British indie artist Matilda Mann, who is currently best known for her song “Paper Mache World,” featured in the recent Netflix series Heartstopper (2022). With fluttery falsetto notes overflowing with emotion, she completely blew the audience away with her soft yet powerful voice. She even sang a couple of unreleased songs still in the works, and the audience was fully engaged in cheering for which lyrics they enjoyed the most. It was the perfect opener to get the audience ready for the night ahead.
The crowd immediately erupted into cheers when Laufey finally ran on stage and started the iconic instrumental opening to “Fragile.” The whole audience was in awe as they gazed upon the artist singing under a single spotlight, holding a shiny red electric guitar, and wearing an elegant, one-shoulder sage top.
After the first two songs, she began to talk about how happy she is to be in Washington, D.C. because she considers this city to be her second hometown. The Icelandic-Chinese songwriter has grown up in several different countries, but has spent most of her time living in Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, and Washington, D.C. In fact, most of the songs she performed from her EP Typical of Me (2021) were written in D.C. during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. The artist even admitted that she wants to someday move back to D.C., which caused the entire audience to scream and applaud.
She eventually put down the guitar and walked towards the red electric piano. Her fingers gracefully glided across the keyboard during “Like the Movies,” playing additional notes and scales that perfectly embellished the melody and captured the longing emotions of the lyrics.
She then transitioned into singing “Let Me Break Your Heart Again,” which seemed to simultaneously shatter and mend the hearts of each individual. You could feel the audience completely entranced, clinging to every note and emotional swell of the melody.
Her stage presence and natural charm created some very memorable moments, especially when Laufey’s drummer tossed her a feathered boa scarf, which she immediately put on while telling the audience to grab a dancing partner for “Dance With You Tonight.”
Laufey would also tell several witty anecdotes and origin stories behind her songs, such as when she jokingly said that she wrote “Above the Chinese Restaurant” because she wanted to write about dumplings. She also shared how a horrible first date led to the song “James,” a performance that caused a humorous round of giggles.
When she approached the cello to play “I Wish You Love,” the entire crowd cheered. She requested for everyone to sing along with her, resulting in the audience breaking into multi-part harmonies and transforming into an impromptu choir. Laufey would often comment throughout the night about how lovely the audience sounded, and would even jokingly direct the crowd like a conductor.
Despite the lighthearted and amusing moments, there were still several times where the audience was practically motionless as they earnestly listened to heart-swelling songs like “Dear Soulmate,” “Just Like Chet,” and “Magnolia.” During these songs, she would gently play the acoustic guitar while her voice carried the layers of emotions intertwined in her lyrics.
At the end of the show, she expressed deep gratitude for the chance to tour. She then gave the set list to an audience member while fans threw flowers, letters, and gifts on stage for her to pick up.
“This is so sweet! This is so nice and very unnecessary but I’m so honored, thank you,” Laufey exclaimed. “Guys, I don’t deserve you.”
Once she gave a sufficient amount of hand hearts and goodbye waves to the audience, Laufey left the stage, leaving the crowd in a dreamy daze after witnessing such a breathtaking performance.
As she continues on her tour through countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ireland, France, Germany, the U.K., as well as several U.S. states, D.C. fans are grateful to have witnessed her talent in the small, intimate Union Stage venue.
