Amelia Moore Live at The Fonda

Photo by Justin Higuchi

Picture this: March 3, 2022. The air outside felt chilly, the sky overcast like it was about to rain (which it will later as soon as we all emerge from the venue after FLETCHER’s encore). Compared to the last time I was at The Fonda to see Lexi Jayde open for GRIFF, I was wearing much more comfortable shoes and a cuter outfit (two people had already complimented me on it) but still felt a tad bit overdressed. I was standing to watch the show from the floor in front of the stage, the closest I can reach, but still felt like I was far from where I should’ve been. Before that night, I’d never heard of FLETCHER or her two opening acts Amelia Moore or G Flip, and I wasn’t not sure at all what to expect. I thought to myself, How am I supposed to enjoy myself when I’m not really sure I belong? 

But as the lights dimmed around 8:30, signaling Amelia Moore’s approach to the stage, I realized something: where we’re at in the venue, how familiar we are (or not) with who’s about to perform, what we’re wearing, who we’re with or if we’re alone, none of it matters. We all become the same in the dark. 

Not to mention that as soon as Amelia burst out onto the stage, there was nothing else to worry or think about. Shaking her neon orange blunt cut, jumping around in yellow sunglasses and a matching top and pants set made out of a bunch of football jerseys stitched together, already starting to sing—I couldn’t look away. I had never seen anyone like her before.

But the memorability of her set didn’t stop there. During her first song, her ear piece fell out and she was forced to sing a bit off-key over her guitar player, drummer, and backing track. But as soon as it became apparent what had happened, I didn’t blame her at all for it—accidents happen! When a crew member ran out to give her another ear piece and she started cracking jokes, brushing off the mistake, it ended up being a funny moment for everyone and definitely an anecdote she could tell later. 

Amelia kept the energy going by playing “moves,” a new song of hers that would release at 9pm, just minutes after she finished her set, which I thought was so powerful of her. Most of her set was composed of songs that hadn’t been released yet but how many artists have you seen freshly release a song while performing it live?

 A catchy, sensual R&B/trap-inspired song, “moves” switches between chest and head voice so fast that it’s dizzying, meaning it’s incredibly difficult to sing along to, let alone sing live. Yet Amelia handled it all with grace, even while dancing and jumping around the stage. 

The strength of her vocals was further proven when she sang “sweet and sour,” a song that could’ve been taken straight from Billie Eilish’s WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? album from 2019. Using a whispery style for the verses, she went full belt-mode during the chorus and had the most unbelievable ease with her vocal runs that, again, saw her switching from chest to head voice with speed, volume, and control. Her range and ability to have her voice be both powerful and soft, sometimes within the same line, was absolutely captivating. 

But the highlight of the night was definitely her cover of Estelle and Kanye West’s 2008 hit “American Boy.” Because of how iconic the song is and how out of left field the backing track started playing, I was unsure how it would fit in with the rest of the set and saw similarly confused reactions from people around me. But without missing a beat, Amelia sped the song up by a few degrees, made the bass line more intense, and truly made the song her own. It was incredible to see her singing, showing off her rap skills during Kanye’s verses, and pumping us up with an iconic, crowd-favorite song. 

I couldn’t help it–I started singing and dancing along, letting go of all my worries, wishing the night would never end. Hoping that this was all a sign that Amelia’s career as a singer, songwriter, and artist would really take off and begin.