Live review: Shamir at Théâtre Fairmount, Nov. 19, 2015

Shamir with HANA
Théâtre Fairmount
November 19, 2015

Shamir with HANA at Théâtre Fairmount this past Thursday was one of those shows that will probably turn out, in retrospect, to be historic. HANA has just recently completely changed her musical direction from indie rock to ambient electro pop; and I don’t think I exaggerate if I say that Shamir is literally destined to be the next big thing. Full stop.

HANA delivered an ethereal, graceful set of songs on a stage decorated with pulsating pink parasols. She has a way of screaming prettily that, accompanied by increasingly intense instrumentation, created rich walls of sound that occasionally reminded me of Dead Can Dance or Austra. HANA also covered Eurythmics’s “Here Comes the Rain Again.” If this concert was any indication, I think HANA’s new style will probably be a huge success.

Shamir, a twenty-one year old from Las Vegas, released Ratchet, the debut LP, this past May – although there was an EP in June 2014. Since then, the musician has been profiled on The Guardian and The New York Times. The popular online magazine Rookie premiered the video for Shamir’s song “In for the Kill” in September – and a couple weeks ago the artist performed for the first time on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Like I said, Shamir is pretty much already destined, at the tender age of twenty-one, to be the next massive pop phenomenon. Shamir’s musical style is singular, but could be described as a hip hop- and house-inflected pop. But Shamir’s onstage presence was just as compelling: s/he channelled a happy punk diva vibe, and made the whole venue feel like an intimate dance party. Shamir said the song “Hot Mess” was semi-autobiographical, but all I saw was the most talented and joyous performer of recent times.