Holly Humberstone Dazzles Chicago Crowd With Powerhouse Performance
Photo by Athena Merry
Making a dazzling entrance at Chicago’s Metro venue on Friday, Nov. 5, the indie-alt songstress Holly Humberstone performs her newly released debut album Can You Afford To Lose Me? Humberstone takes the stage in an eye-catching, distressed and metallic top that says “SEX” that has audiences cheering and screaming at the top of their lungs.
Humberstone played to a sold out venue to an electric crowd that knew every word of her Can You Afford To Lose Me? discography. Fans formed sprawling lines outside the doors, covered in glitter from head to toe, and didn’t hesitate to rush to get as close to the stage as possible. Humberstone’s fans were attentive and full of energy – crying during “Dead End” and excitedly jumping up and down during “Overkill.” The audience danced with one another, sang the words back to the band, and the room was filled with an electric energy owed to the love Humberstone has for her global audience.
As one’s first time visiting Chicago, naturally Humberstone opened with raving how amazing the deep dish pizza was and how excited she was to travel to such a beautiful city.
Humberstone’s performance is nothing short of raw prowess and extreme depth as she invites the crowd into her world of emotional growth, love and loss and a peek inside her UK roots. She has successfully created an environment that is safe and filled with joy for all of her fans, ranging from young fans to the parents and grandparents singing along and dancing in the back of the venue.
Humberstone sets the tone with “Vanilla” as the opening song as she details being cautious of a “vanilla” relationship that made her feel safe. She lights up the stage with her soulful, yet equally delicate vocals, that describe a comfortable spark between her and her significant other. The audience screams back just as powerfully, “And I can go on and on and on and on and on, but the truth is, I have my best nights without you.”
Can You Afford To Lose Me? is a continuing story of the songstress’ relationship conflicts, healing and emotional breakthroughs. Before introducing “Thursday,” Humberstone invites a vulnerable energy as she opens up to the crowd saying how the song was inspired by writing down questions about her relationship that were left unanswered and the feeling of loneliness that followed her throughout. Feelings of glee and grief both collide through the emotional rollercoaster of “Thursday.” Through the painful lyricism and intimately in-your-face introspections, Humberstone sings of her journey of waiting for a love that wouldn’t arrive as she’s rooting for them from the sidelines. The distressed vocals add a layer of depth to the rejection that Humberstone faced as she questions who the person she was dealing with really was.
Humberstone follows with a glistening, uplifting pop-rock anthem “Overkill.” She invited the crowd to dance and sing along to, “A couple more tequilas and I’ll tell you how I’m feeling / Don’t wanna kill your evening / Don’t wanna be a buzzkill.” Her vocals showcase the tenderness and vulnerability of the lyrics through an exciting melody of spending all her money and exploring the country. Detailed to the strong imagery of moonlight, the countryside and drinking tequila, the audience can picture themselves inside her world of celebration. With clear-cut folk influences paired with twinkling choruses, Humberstone loses herself in dance on stage as a bright gold light shines on her, adding on to a gleaming atmosphere.
The emotional labor of Can You Afford To Lose Me? is carried onto her audience in “Please Don’t Leave Just Yet.” The track is a collaboration between Humberstone and The 1975 frontman Matty Healy, an artist who she credited heavily for her inspirations. The teary-eyed lyricism interlaced with heart-wrenching guitar-backed ballads created an ethereal touch to the show. The songstress woefully reminisces on the feeling of having a chance to talk to her lover, even if it was for five minutes, before she never sees them again. Humberstone’s voice echoes throughout the venue as she builds up to the chorus of a painful ending, accompanied by her tender and folk-like delivery. Her voice took on a dominating presence of its own when she sang “And I know I’m only young, but I’m not a fucking idiot.”
Continuing the somberness and feelings of loneliness, Humberstone’s “Deep End” felt like a confessional diary entry that left your throat clenched and a heart in your throat feeling. Dedicating the song to her sister, Humberstone says it centered around her sibling’s mental health issues and trying to help her by being vulnerable and having deep conversations. She adds that it’s always a tricky conversation to have navigating mental health issues. She encouraged the crowd to be vulnerable and give each other the space to cry. Though her sister wasn’t in the audience, Humberstone said that she’s always there for her sister even though she doesn’t completely understand what she’s going through. The audience fell silent and let the electric guitar and soulful melodies carry the song about the heart-to-heart conversations.
The title track “Can You Afford To Lose Me?” was a crowd favorite as Humberstone opens with “You’re my home planet / You were my stars, my holy place / But you took me for granted, right from the start now, didn’t you babe?” Almost intuitively, it felt like Humberstone was singing just to me as the song hit too close to home for me as I was in Humberstone’s shoes. Humberstone challenges her ex lover to go ahead and do their worst, but don’t cry when it hurts. She questions, can you afford to lose me? throughout the performance. The performance captures a raw emotion and a newfound confidence that resulted from Humberstone rising from the ashes of her past relationships. Beautifully tender and expressive, “Can You Afford To Lose Me?” dealt with a sense of displacement from messy relationships and young loves, and attempting to move on while finding your place in the world. Humberstone heightens on her relatability with the crowd through this one track.
The songstress closes the show with the iconic hit “Scarlett,” named after her best friend. Humberstone says that her friend experienced all the stages of heartbreak and vented to her about her feelings for a year. Slowly, she came into her worth and found empowerment within herself and dried her tears. The closing ballad signals an end to the era for the songstress’ messy heartbreaks, unfulfilling situationships and painful realizations. Humberstone ends on a positive note that is guided by 80s inspired synths and pop electronica.
Holly Humberstone played her heart out and let her emotional truth be known as she guided the crowd through feelings of empathy, heartbreaks and mental health conversations throughout her set. Her knack for relatability hits close to home as she continues her brand of heartbreak and twenty-something feelings of angst. Humberstone is a defiant, unstoppable force who is leading the way for the younger generation of artists in the indie-alt realms.