Lizzy McAlpine’s intimate, phone-free ‘Angel’ show in Brooklyn was a warm hug and a thank you to the fans. Alongside the band and team who helped bring ‘Angel’ to life, McAlpine filled the room with the same hope, love and light that sits at the heart of the record. There was joy on stage, community in the crowd, and the kind of magic that can only happen when everyone in the room is fully present.

Stream: “Over country” – Lizzy McAlpine

It’s a warm September evening. There is a tilt of magic in the air.

The lucky ones who were selected hurry their way to the Music Hall of Williamsburg to witness Lizzy McAlpine and her band play her forthcoming album, Angel, from start to finish before the rest of the world hears it.

Live shows were built to bring a sense of community; a pause in everyday life. Live shows are where people of all walks come together to be a part of something they love, or even sweeter, something someone they love loves. Live shows cannot be manufactured. They are all special.

The Angel shows were something more. They had something extra. The buzz in the air around them was palpable.

On this warm September night in Brooklyn, troves of young girls fill a 650-cap venue, one that McAlpine could sell out 10x. Sprinkled in are a few men in muscle tees, dads with daughters, people alone, people with friends, but all of which with smiling faces. Upon entry your phone is sealed in a magnetic pouch, further garnering a sense of community. You enter the room and the familiar sounds of James Taylor warm your ears, setting the tone for what’s to come.

McAlpine enters center stage. The music hall explodes with excitement and anticipation. Her faithful band and long-time collaborators, Taylor Mackall on keys, Mason Stoops on lead guitar, Omar Akrouche (Worthitpurchase) on bass and Kane Ritchotte, who McAlpine fondly introduced as her Boyfriend on Drums join alongside.

The lights lower. Mackall plays the synths to introduce the familiar “The Light In The Painting” and McAlpine’s once-in-a-lifetime voice enters. Aptly, the painting that is the cover art for Angel is on a spotlight left of the stage, further facilitating a warm and home-like environment.

The crowd settles into the show with awe. There are soft echoes of voices singing along to the first song. Without a single blue light in sight, 1300 eyes are locked directly on stage, present. It feels like how it’s supposed to be.

McAlpine moves from center stage over to the piano for vocally gorgeous “Anybody’s fool.” She explains that she wrote this on the 4th of July thinking about how she’d be spending it with her ex if she were still with him. It led her to think about what they would be doing, which then led her to do a drive by. The crowd laughed in unison as most can relate. A beat drops creating the pulse of the song before she dives into the piano and begins singing,

Bombs overhead
Streamers of light
Driving your street
Looking for life

At the Angel shows, you feel like you are a friend to McAlpine.

You feel a part of it. She dives into what went into each song, how she arrived there, when she wrote them, where she wrote them, what she was feeling when she wrote them, complete with crowd interactions and band banter.

She moves back to center stage for “A car wash and a new pair of pants” which, as she puts it, is a song about feeling like someone is using you because of what you can do for them. It’s upbeat. It’s fun. It’s Joni Mitchell in the best way.

Blinded by the fame and glory
Wanted to love me for what I gave to you
Hold it in your hands
See if you can take it
Get a car wash and a new pair of pants

“I have a friend” is next. McAlpine was listening to a lot of James Taylor at the time. Because of that, she wanted to write a classic love song. She did it.

There is no room
Without your voice to fill it
My mouth is just a straight line
Without your lips to kiss it

She moves into “The moon” recounting how hard it was to produce. The brain trust around her nods in agreement.

The handsome prince
And maiden fair
I am in your debt
I am no freer than
The moon

“Ugly things” is next. The crowd eases from the intensity with which they’re clinging to every word of the unheard songs. They immediately begin to sway and sing-along. The triumphant conclusion to “Ugly things” is felt throughout the room.

“Soldier of the road” featuring Fleet Floxes on the album follows. It’s a song about the difficulties of touring. McAlpine is never one to sugar coat. It’s the reason she’s garnered so much loyalty. We know we’re getting the truth from her. She wrote this when she was in New York on Broadway. She was appreciating how much better the Broadway lifestyle was, albeit still difficult, compared to touring. “Soldier of the road” was born from that reflection.

We let it take its toll
Say, you know that’s roll and roll
And once you get a taste

Soldier of the road
Stepping out of the light
I have people to love
I have music to write

“Peach” is a highlight. McAlpine’s crystal clear vocals take unexpected turns. The lyrics have an obviousness that makes them genius. The concept came from a breakup. It’s that moment when you realize you have free will. You no longer have to filter your decisions through the lens of another person. For McAlpine it was as simple as eating a peach before dinner. It’s that simplicity that makes it profound.

Cutting a peach before dinner
You’re playing in the band
Somewhere in Ohio
The crowd is going wild in the stands
I stand in the kitchen
One step closer to myself
Somewhere in Kentucky
You play a song for someone else

She switches between guitars and piano throughout the night. She’s dubbed her favorite guitar as Edith, a vintage 1964 Epiphone FT-45 Cortez with its own instagram. When Edith is in her hand we’re getting something extra special. Edith and McAlpine carry us through “Over country.” She explains it’s about being far away from loved ones. She wanted us to hold the people we loved if we were there with them. Most of us were. I was lucky enough to be there with my two best friends. McAlpine’s prelude to the track made the moment and the evening that was already special, even more so.

McAlpine tells us that she wrote the next song when she was living in New York. She was in rehearsals when an alarm went off in her LA home. They couldn’t get a hold of her so they called her ex, who was still listed. When she got back to her phone she had a message from him asking if she was ok. After that, she wrote “Two elevens.” She tells us she then sent him the song.

There was love once
There was fire
We had something
That’s all that matters

I don’t blame you
I don’t blame me
I am older
And I’m sorry

McAlpine wanted “a long Joni Mitchell song.” On the Older tour in Europe, she did it. The seven minute and twenty-three second “Our strange ways” took us on a journey akin to so many that Mitchell has taken us on.

The final three songs of the record and the night are emotional. The night is winding down. The crowd is hanging on to every second. The songs are becoming more vulnerable, more personal. Everyone has forgotten about their phones.

“Mason’s song” was written for McAlpine’s friend, collaborator and man playing guitar directly to her left, Mason Stoops. He can’t look at her while she plays it and I understand why. They started making Angel just days before the LA fires took out Stoops home studio. McAlpine wrote this song about those first two days. She wrote it about how they fight like siblings and always come back to one another. She wrote this song for her friend. She wrote it about not being able to do it alone.

Sit around and figure out
the chords to this song
Sometimes I still don’t know
if they’re right or they’re wrong
But I know I will find it if you play along
Just look at us now

If you know McAlpine’s catalog you know that she reserves track 13 for her late father, Mark McAlpine, who passed away in March of 2020. “The crowd” bears no explanation other than it is by far one of the rawest, most emotional and vulnerable moments we’ve experienced at a live show. For McAlpine to share that with us was a gift.

McAlpine closes with the title track, “Angel.” She explains that this is the second song she wrote for the record. In the song, she sings of an angel, this person or thing that she loves. By the third verse the person she loves, the angel, is now her. McAlpine’s forthcoming album, out now, is filled to the brim with love and light. It holds a hope and a brevity that is welcomed alongside a group of musicians who have together honed a sound that is timeless, unmatchable and quite frankly, perfect.

Angel in a brilliant light
Watching me
Smile at her through the glass
Home and free
I have always been here waiting
Just to be

Before the night concludes McAlpine and the band give us “Spring Into Summer.” Every person in the building sings every word. We are swaying together, now completely in unison, after what we all just experienced. The room is filled to the brim with joy. The song concludes. McAlpine and the band take their bows and off they go. As we exit our phones are unlocked. Strangely, the need for them is no longer there.

McAlpine, her band, and her team did something special with the Angel shows. It felt much less like promotion for the new album and much more like a warm hug and a thank you to the fans. The joy exuberating from McAlpine and her band on stage spilled over into the mass of the crowd for the entirety of the evening. It was earnest and joyful and anyone who was lucky enough to be there will remember it forever. Angel is out now everywhere.

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:: stream/purchase Angel here ::

:: connect with Lizzy McAlpine here ::

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Stream: “The light in the painting” – Lizzy McAlpine

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 © Keith Oshiro

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