Article by Ella Donovan. Photos by Madalyn Schaller.
On September 26, Remi Wolf played at Pittsburgh’s Stage AE for her Big Ideas Tour. With a sold out show, Pittsburgh music lovers were in for a treat.
Opening the show was Lava La Rue, a unique, genre-bending artist from the UK. They just released their debut album STARFACE, which follows the story of “an intergalactic being named STARFACE who’s been sent to Earth to study and help humanity.”
Lava La Rue not only had a funky, psychedelic, and experimental sound, but also flaunted an extremely talented band. The entire opening set was mesmerizing, which can be very hard to accomplish especially on a tour of this size. They had the crowd captivated, and if they started losing grip of their attention, they knew how to quickly get it back.
After seeing Lava La Rue live, I told many of my friends how amazing they were, and have definitely become a fan.
Remi Wolf has always been one of those artists that appears in almost every single playlist I’ve made on my Spotify. Her energy, messaging, quirkiness and style are infectious, making it hard to stay away from her music.
This was once again the case when Mads and I saw her live at Stage AE in Pittsburgh this past September. While I was not surprised that Remi would put on an amazing show, somehow the performance still exceeded my expectations.
The last time I saw Remi Wolf live was at Mr. Smalls Theatre with Mads and my younger brother Ollie. It was my freshman year of college, and I only knew a few of her songs, but I was ecstatic to see her and her band. After that show, I was instantly hooked and began listening to the rest of Remi’s discography. After three years, I was ready to see her live again.
To start off the set, the band played “Cherries & Cream” off of their latest album, Big Ideas. It was a great way to start the show, with it being upbeat, catchy, and easy to sing along to. Almost instantly, you could feel the whole crowd at Stage AE have a huge energy shift. People were obviously excited before the show began, but it became abundantly clear as soon as Remi entered down center-stage.
The setlist was made up of mostly Big Ideas songs, but sprinkled in there were fan favorites like “Liz,” “Sexy Villain,” “Disco Man” and “Photo ID.” The band also covered the iconic song “Life Is A Highway” by Tom Cochrane. Their cover of this well-known song was so unique, funky, and wonderful. Even if you love the original version, Remi’s was energetically and sonically different, and they did the song justice.
As the set was coming to a close, Remi and her band played “Soup,” which happens to be one of my favorites off of the new album. It was a great closing song; it had everyone dancing and singing their hearts out.
For the encore, “Photo ID” was the only song. While this was a great encore, I do wish there would’ve been another song or two added to it! Songs like “Quiet On Set” or “Grumpy Old Man” would’ve been amazing additions to the encore, especially since her fans love them so much.
Remi’s voice blew me away almost every single time she began to belt during songs. Her voice easily carried throughout the entire venue, and it was very impressive. She has both a unique and absolutely phenomenal voice; she could wail every high note with ease.
No matter what music you listen to, I will always recommend seeing Remi Wolf live if you have the chance. Not only was the show super fun, but the band was talented and well practiced. The show flowed seamlessly from one song to the next, until the lights suddenly came on and it was over.
Nice review and photos!