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REVIEW: Tegan and Sara perform intimate, emotional Royal Oak show centered around memoir

Sisters share stories about sexuality, career

Tegan and Sara perform at Royal Oak Music Theatre on Oct. 17, 2019. (Amber Ainsworth/WDIV)

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – At one point during Tegan and Sara's Michigan performance Thursday, Sara stepped off stage while crying.

That moment was just a small glimpse into how emotional, raw and open twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin's Royal Oak Music Theatre show was.

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The sisters visited Michigan on their "Hey, I'm Just Like You" tour, an intimate and unique concert experience promoting their new album of the same name and recently released memoir, "High School."

The new album consists of songs they wrote in high school and recorded this year. Tegan and Sara found cassettes of old songs while working on the book, leading to the new record, released last month.

Due to the personal nature of the show, attendees were asked to keep phones away, and photographers were only allowed to take photos during the first song from the back of the venue.

Tegan and Sara moved between playing songs and reading from the book, which documents not only their career, but their journey in discovering their sexuality. Tegan and Sara are both gay.

It was those moments, when they opened up their lives on the stage, that were the most emotional and intense.

At one point, when Sara was reading a story about a boy who used derogatory language about gay people in front of her when she was still not open about her sexuality, someone in the audience yelled something. They were removed from the show.

That story was a deeply painful story for Sara to share, and she struggled to read it. It was the moment she stepped off stage, and when she returned, she asked Tegan to finish reading that part for her.

The show also provided glimpses into the performers' pasts. Shaky, old home videos played on the screen behind Tegan and Sara, and they played a recording of a song Sara wrote and sang when she was younger.

Besides reading from the book and performing, Tegan and Sara shared stories about life, including their experiences on acid, a topic they joked about several times.

When Tegan and Sara took the stage, it was as if they were in a room full of friends, opening up and exposing themselves to people they trust and love.

One dollar from every ticket was donated to the Tegan and Sara Foundation, the sisters' charitable organization that supports LGBTQ women and girls.

It was an incredibly honest, poetic night that was so much more than a concert.


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