Lesbian rock icon Fletcher brought her ‘In Search of the Antidote’ tour to Phoenix, Arizona with fellow gay icon Maude Latour for a night of great music and sexy, crazy fun.
Maude Latour
Fresh off the release of her newest album Sugar Water, Latour joined Fletcher for the US leg of her tour. Her music fit beautifully into this tour, having a similar sound to Fletcher’s, just maybe a bit more y2k-esque (in a great way!)
Latour started the show with ‘Cursed Romantics’, and you could immediately feel the energy elevate in the venue. Everyone was on their fit, jumping and dancing almost as wild as Latour. Her stage presence is bubbly and animated, making her very interesting to watch. She ran from one side of the stage to the other, smiling and throwing her hair everywhere.
Many in the crowd knew the words to her set and she never failed to give a point or a wave to acknowledge fans. During ‘Too Slow’, many in the crowd sang along loud and proud, yelling “Samantha, get in the f-ing car!” You could feel it in her energy and see it in her smile that Latour loves being on stage, and she owns it. She is dynamic and fun as she dances about, which made for a great opening to the night. As she walked off stage, there was a palpable excitement left in her presence crowd was amped up for Fletcher’s arrival.
Fletcher
The house lights flicked off and the screen on stage sparkled, ‘Carrie’ by The Europe played over the loud speakers, with many in the audience singing along. The song was a cute a nod to Fletcher’s full name: Cari Elise Fletcher. The entire four minutes and 32 seconds of the song played before the screen dropped, and Fletcher’s silhouette appeared standing on a platform towards the back of the stage.
Guitar strumming filled the space, Fletcher’s soft voice floating over it. ‘Maybe I Am’ was a perfect choice for opening song, starting softly then building in intensity. Behind her, the lyrics of the chorus flashed in a poetic way, going from ‘CRAZY B*TCH’ to ‘NARCISSIST’ to ‘MAYBE I AM’, as she sang proudly in front of them.
“I wanna create a bubble in here,” she told the crowd. “Of just, our own fantasy dreamland of just feeling so good and loving on ourselves and the people around us. And my only request is that you scream every single lyric at the top of your f-ing lungs, Phoenix!” Cheers drowned out her voice, with fans clearly happy to follow her demand.
Hearing an entire concert venue scream “You’ll never f- somebody hotter, right?” during ‘Ego Talking’ was an incredible experience, as if it was an affirmation they were convincing themselves. However, the volume of the crowd was truly tested when Fletcher let them decide the setlist. “We’re gonna do a scream test and Jeremy [sound engineer] is gonna be whispering sweet nothing’s in my ear and telling me which song you guys’ scream the loudest for.” The choice was between ‘Feel’ from The S(ex) Tapes and ‘Healing’ from Girl Of My Dreams. Phoenix decided on ‘Healing’.
Fletcher is a rockstar, through-and-through. From her energy on stage, to her sex appeal, she has the theatrics but never loses the music. In fact, the way she puts herself into her performance takes every song to an entirely new level. She lets audience’s feel the emotions behind the words, happy, sexy, or sad.
At one point in the show, she began reading signs from the audience. It was a simple moment, but there was a deep connection felt. Sure, she was only on stage for an hour and a half, but that moment brought her out of the lights and the singing and the dancing. With the space she has created as a queer person, it was nice to see her take a moment and connect with fans. Many of the signs were flirting with her, or telling her about their wife breaking up with them over Apple notes for a man (really happened). It was fun, and simple, and created a personalized moment for the fans in the crowd.
There is an emotional, moving beauty in watching a lesbian performer sing songs about sapphic experiences. She performs these songs, explicity talking about sleeping with, falling in love with, and breaking up with women with an unapologetic power. There are no ambiguous innuendoes or ‘straight’ interpretations of the songs. Fletcher stands on stage and belts out songs that say ‘Hey, I’m gay and here’s what that is like,’ and it is so important and so incredible and a deeply moving experience as a queer person.
To see a sea full of queer couples and queer people being loud and proud and feeling so safe is a beautiful thing to experience. And that is only because Fletcher has created a space that shows queer people that being queer is normal and sexy and sometimes heartbreaking, just like being straight.
Fletcher is not only a powerhouse vocalist, but an engaging, fun performer, and an important queer icon. She has paved the way for a lot of artists, and continues to being a beaming light to many sapphic individuals.
