I knew Tegan and Sara’s concert in Detroit wasn’t going to be normal when the twin sister duo walked onto stage with their band with no stage productions going on.
Normally when you’re at a concert, you expect the lights to go down and some tension starts to build before the band/performer goes on stage. The lighting is set, there is some sort of music playing and the hype is real.
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Instead, Tegan and Sara came out and immediately Sara let the crowd know that the show was going to be a little bit different. Unfortunately, Tegan had lost her voice and was still on the mend, so the set list was going to be a little bit different in order to accommodate Tegan’s full recovery for the rest of the tour.
I secretly always love when things like this happen at concerts, because you’re about to get a unique show that no one else on the tour (or future tours) is going to get. I’ll never forget when I get to see indie rocker Lucy Dacus perform an entire concert laying on a couch on the stage because she threw out her back. While I felt bad that she was in pain, the fact that we got to see her perform laying on a couch the entire show is something that other fans will never get to see or experience.
Tegan and Sara rolled with the punches and still put on an incredible show that didn’t seem too different from their normal show. Tegan was on stage the entire time, and anytime they performed a song that Tegan sang lead vocals, she had a backing track of herself playing to help.
A few Tegan songs were left off the normal set list (I was pretty bummed they didn’t perform “The Con,” one of my favorites), but the show felt like I was at any other Tegan and Sara show. The banter between the sisters was hilarious, and they played all their hits, which is what you always hope for at a concert.
The duo’s new songs fit seamlessly into their live show, too. “F***ing Up What Matters” sounds like a song that they’ve been playing for years, and “Yellow” has the potential to be one of their most emotional songs ever written. Plus, it’s super catchy, which always helps.
The five-song acoustic section of the concert was special to the Detroit crowd, and I honestly could have listened to them do an entire set of just acoustic. Despite having a scratchy voice, even Tegan blew me away with her harmonies and backing vocals. We even got to hear an early Tegan and Sara deep cut called “Mondays, Mondays, Mondays.” Most of the crowd was singing right along.
It’s wild to think that Tegan and Sara have been at it for more than 20 years now. They’re making the best music of their career, and they have a new TV show on Amazon based on their memoir. What more could you want.
You can stream Tegan and Sara’s new album, Crybaby, below.
