“There’s a rugged drama to playing a show in the rain that I’ve always wanted to experience,” said Arlo Parks, onstage at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. On Monday evening, that dream came true as the heavens opened and drenched the gorgeous, outdoors venue along with everyone in it.
“Let’s commit to it,” Parks offered, before she continued to dance in the non-stop rain and encouraged others to follow suit. Well, if there’s one artist who knows how to find joy in misery…
Arlo Parks first stole hearts with the raw poetry that made up her Mercury Prize-winning debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams. A central figure of the intimate bedroom pop scene, her music reflected the isolation, uncertainty and confusion many of us were experiencing over the pandemic, offering quiet comfort in the process. Wanting to evolve beyond the confines of “sad girl indie” though, last year’s My Soft Machine saw Parks turn her gaze outwards.
Sure, there were still pained reflections on grief, self-sabotage and the anxiety of settling into your 20s, but there were also explosive moments of love and joy with the entire record channeling a newfound warmth, mined from communal hope. It was ambitious, grand and made to be played live. On Monday, Parks was joined by a three-piece band to give those lush, confrontational songs added bite, while the heavy rain only amplified that feeling of togetherness in the crowd.
The opening one-two of Bruiseless and Weightless created a sense of magic throughout the soggy venue, before the funk of Blades and the twitching urgency of Caroline kickstarted a party. Dog Rose delved into reckless love while Hurt found hope in hard times.
That theme continued for Parks’ breakthrough single Black Dog, which was dedicated to anyone having a hard time. “In those moments when you feel like things aren’t going to get better, remember this moment when we were completely not alone,” Parks said. “We were all together, in this rain, singing as a community that we’ve built around the music.”
The rain added to the power of Parks’ emotive music but it also gave the gig a sense of looming danger. Microphones broke, puddles had to be brushed from the stage and the whole gig was almost cut short due to technical issues. After a forced intermission, Parks returned to the stage for a fierce rendition of generational anthem Sophie, the raucous Devotion and the defiantly tender Softly.
“Thank you for being with me through this rainy adventure,” she explained, having found a new level of intensity and beauty in her already powerful odes of hope.
”I feel like this is one of those unforgettable gigs,” she added, with this truly special show an unlikely but defiant celebration of perseverance, whatever the circumstances.
