Originally published December 12, 2019 on radiofodder.com
Last Monday 2 December, Canadian pop sensation Carly Rae Jepsen brought The Dedicated Tour to The Forum, Melbourne for a sold out show that could only be described as a modern-day disco extravaganza.
Australian singer/songwriter Starley opened the show (and yes, her name does sound suspiciously like ‘Carly’). Her sound really resonated with the crowd— her performance of ‘Love Is Love’ made everyone feel warm and fuzzy, and her debut single ‘Call On Me’ got everyone on their feet. Despite not knowing any of the lyrics beforehand, I picked up some of the particularly catchy ones and had a dance along the way.
Carly Rae Jepsen emerged onto the stage in a sparkly ‘70s inspired disco outfit with multicoloured lights cascading down on her. It was epic.
She opened with ‘No Drug Like Me’, from her new album Dedicated, followed by the title track of her third album Emotion.
By far, the first thing we all noticed was that the sound quality was out of this world. Carly sounded EXACTLY THE SAME live as she did on her albums in THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE. Moreover, the concert was very well mixed— props to the sound person. I could hear every musical element so clearly.
A disco ball dropped down from the ceiling for certain songs, creating a glittery dance floor that looked like it was straight out of Saturday Night Fever.
‘Run Away With Me’ went off like nothing has ever gone off before. The whole mosh was vibrating, but in a safe way where I didn’t feel like I was going to get crushed.
Unlike most concerts, Carly didn’t really stop between her songs to do lots of storytelling. Instead, she gave us little teasers about what some songs were about— usually relationship-related anecdotes. ‘Julien’, in particular, is about a boy named (surprise surprise) Julien who Carly adamantly confirmed she definitely does not have feelings for anymore.
She has songs about stealing bikes, breaking up with boys on top of mountains, and going to the store. She’s a relatable queen.
Her 2012 smash hit ‘Call Me Maybe’ was also wild to hear live. To hear a song that resonated with you at such a different age— almost 10 years ago —live, finally, is very surreal. It definitely evoked some nostalgic teen memories.
She played plenty of hits from Dedicated— like ‘Now That I Found You’, ‘Happy Not Knowing’, ‘Feels Right’ and ‘Real Love’.
During ‘Too Much’— a song about being ‘too much’ in a relationship —her band put on Carly Rae Jepsen-style wigs to mimic the multiple Carlys portrayed in the music video.
There were also entire sections of songs that she would stop singing so that the crowd could scream them back to her. And I’m not talking about just her biggest bops, but even the deep tracks that the crowd knew every word to.
She played my favourite song of hers— ‘Let’s Get Lost’ —second to last and, let me tell you, I was in shock. That song is hidden halfway through the Emotion album, and I didn’t know it was so well known but I was so happy that it was.
She ended with ‘Cut To The Feeling’, and I swear I could feel the floor of The Forum moving under my feet from the wild dancing that was happening in the mosh. The ground was literally shaking.
The Dedicated Tour was hands down one of the best concerts I have ever been to— not just sound-wise but energy-wise as well. You could tell that nearly every person in the room was a ‘dedicated’ fan, and it made for an incredible atmosphere and night.
