In Concert: Lola Young

Lola Young brought East London to Royale on Friday, September 27th 2024. The crowd was ready for every little second of the high energy, raw emotion show. This was a tour with no particular name but came about with the This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway album which came out in June of 2024. The album and the songs, and the night at Royale was 100% meant for everyone in the room (and many who didn’t make the show). The way the audience was stripped down and open to every hurt, and angry lyric that Lola Young was sharing in her own all in sort of way it was meant for them anyway.

When + Where

It was a cool drizzly evening as Lola Young fans gathered on the floor and filled Boston’s Royale. Messy had been released four months prior and was gaining popularity by the minute becoming an anthem for many. The relatable theme of not being “right” for those around us is the thread ready to snap that we all shared. Like any live music, it is hard to convey in words the depth of connection and buzz of energy that being in a room full of mostly strangers with someone on stage singing their heart out and 99.9% of the room latching on for dear life because they feel it too. Messy was written by Carter Lang, Conor Dickinson and Lola Young and produced by Solomonophoic, manuka, Monsune, and Carter Lang.

Opener

I value an opener and try to get to every concert in time to see the opener. I also believe that every Boston show should start with a local band; start every show with at least a micro set of a couple of songs. So I greatly appreciate that Lola Young had Yanna G as the opener. Yanna G is a Boston musician who likes to tap into the rhythm of this city and her life within it. She takes solace in recreating those beats into music. She is inspired by Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige (the music of her parents given her young age of 21). Yanna G wants to push through boundaries of R&B making music with hip hop and soul at its core but aiming to take it somewhere new. She had the audience engaged and went full out for her set. Yanna G’s first album On Everything I Love was released July 22 2024 by Words Speak Life.

On the Floor

This audience was pumped to be in the presence of Lola Young. Clearly blood, sweat and tears had been shed at home alone and some communal letting loose led by the Prince/Princess/Queen/King of “fuck this shit” was ready to be had. The release of singing along to the chorus of Crush or What Is It About Me? and letting go of some of the cords holding us back. Shaking the chains that confine us with Lola Young at the ready with her hacksaw.

On Stage

This raw, slightly unpolished but exactly perfect as she was version of Lola Young was a treat to bear witness to. She had the polished pointed nails of a diva and the loose baggy shorts and long sleeved t-shirt of the kid next door. It was perfect. It was a look that let us know her personality. A look that said I care but also I’m going to get comfortable with you all. Don’t come too close but also come as you are and let’s get real. Lola Young can belt a song, but her voice can also crack as she dives deep and lays down all her armour: she is exposed, vulnerable, and demanding to be seen not in a diva way but in a “it feels good to be known so well” kind of way.

The Songs

Lola Young opened the show with Good Books and while the themes in so many of the songs on her This Wasn’t Meant For Your Anyway album are similar, the ways that Young conveys the message are smart and relatable. Being the underdog in every which way and letting the world know you’re fed up is something that at various ages and stages we have all experienced but maybe without any way to figure out how to put it words. Luckily Young did that for us. Good Books was written by Buddy Ross, Carter Lang, Conor Dickinson, Jared Solomon, Lola Young and Will Brown and produced by Solomonophonic, Carter Lang, and Buddy Ross. I hope the Lola Young of September 2024 singing: And you said “You’ll never breakthrough in pop music anyway”/ And that really got to me, to be honest,/ ’cause
I think that I love you and it’s hurting my brain ’cause/ Everything I do is starting to revolve around you is now singing those words with a giant smirk on her face because the breakthrough was so fast we all have whiplash. Young closed out the show with Messy and Conceited, releasing the audience back out into the streets of Boston on the only kind of high you can feel after releasing a little messiness and pocketing whatever morsel of conceit you have learned to allow your self.

Lyrics To Linger Over

I have more than a few favourite songs when it comes to Lola Young (20 so far to be precise). So choosing lyrics to linger over is a little tough. I will leave you with just a couple though. I believe in the magic and power of a crush. It is one of those things that has to stay in this weird sort of limbo to be good so of course I’m including this one.

I think I got a crush, what the fuck?
And I hate it ’cause it don’t mean much
I got a crush, I’m a mug
‘Cause this ain’t love, it’s anything
Everything but

Crush, This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway (2024)

and because she’s a good read, she’s an open book, and we will hopefully have many more chapters to devour

You make it hard to see beneath the rubble
But I shovel that shit to the left, say you’re not that kind of guy
I work hard to stay in your good books
But you don’t read, so why do I try?

Good Books, This Wasn’t Meant For You Anyway (2024)

Lola Young’s next show in Boston will be at Roadrunner on November 4th for her I’m Only F*cking Myself tour. Tickets are few and far between so just hurry.