{"id":6078,"date":"2019-11-06T20:25:03","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T01:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=6078"},"modified":"2019-12-17T20:06:33","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T01:06:33","slug":"review-bea-miller-paradise-rock-club-11-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2019\/11\/06\/review-bea-miller-paradise-rock-club-11-2\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: Bea Miller @ Paradise Rock Club 11\/2"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ben Hofmann<\/em><\/p>\n

Blazing energy and pink hair to match it: Bea Miller delivered a crazy range of emotions to a sold-out Paradise Rock Club last Saturday, November 2nd. Only 20 years old, Miller included songs spanning from her debut 2015 album (\u201cFire N Gold\u201d) to one day before the show (\u201cTHAT BITCH\u201d), with the majority of songs released from her sophomore 2018 album aurora<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most refreshing about Bea Miller\u2019s performance was that she spoke almost as much as she sang, something atypical for most pop musicians. After opening the show with \u201csong like you,\u201d Miller followed by saying \u201cbe warned, I tell a lot of stories,\u201d and, indeed, stories were told. Unlike the recycled, stale phrases that most artists sprinkle into their shows, these stories were like a lovely stream of consciousness, connecting Miller to her music, her thoughts, and whatever else came to her mind at any moment (like when she blew her nose on stage and said \u201cdoesn\u2019t it sound like an elephant!?\u201d). Her musicianship was stellar. She didn\u2019t have to captivate the audience with her personality to put on a good show, but she did.<\/p>\n

After \u201csong like you,\u201d Bea Miller performed \u201coutside\u201d and \u201cto the grave,\u201d absolutely owning the stage to the point that even a security guard took a video. It\u2019s worth mentioning that Miller\u2019s band was also incredible. The guitar solos, drum rhythms, and synths kept the energy high throughout the night, and instrumentalists were as visibly engaged with the music as Miller was.<\/p>\n

As the night continued, Miller became more vocal about societal and structural issues she\u2019s passionate about. Before performing \u201cS.L.U.T.,\u201d she questioned why it\u2019s hard for people to just be nice, especially women towards other women.<\/p>\n

Additionally, before performing her latest song, \u201cTHAT BITCH,\u201d Miller addressed parents in the audience, whose concern she seemed to anticipate. She wanted to emphasize that she wasn\u2019t cussing for fun, but rather to intentionally and deliberately accentuate a double standard within the music industry: \u201ca man would not hesitate to put out a song like this so neither did I.\u201d With that, she gave her most cocky, confident performance of the night. It encapsulated all the dimensions of Bea Miller that make her her: her boldness, her emotions, and her evolved, mature swagger.<\/p>\n

In between \u201cS.L.U.T.\u201d and \u201cTHAT BITCH,\u201d Bea Miller performed \u201cfeel something,\u201d with drums leading into \u201clike that,\u201d one of the few times Miller didn\u2019t speak during a transition. After tearing up slightly during \u201clike that\u201d she exclaimed, \u201cI don\u2019t want to be sad!,\u201d and performed \u201cit\u2019s not you it\u2019s me\u201d and \u201cFEELS LIKE HOME\u201d. The audience knew all the words to \u201cit\u2019s not you it\u2019s me,\u201d and before performing \u201cFEELS LIKE HOME,\u201d which features Jessie Reyez, Miller somewhat jokingly teased the audience about tweets she saw that were critical of the song, but Bea Miller said she loved the song, so she sang it anyway.<\/p>\n

After \u201cS.L.U.T.,\u201d Miller performed \u201cFire N Gold,“”NEVER GONNA LIKE YOU,\u201d and \u201cI Wanna Know\u201d as an encore, which had everybody singing, jumping, and dancing. It was one of those concerts that, after it ends, you realize was more energizing than it was draining.<\/p>\n

After reading this, when you open Spotify to listen to \u201cTHAT BITCH\u201d by Bea Miller, make sure you also search her openers, Kennedi and Kah-lo, specifically \u201cGinger\u201d by Kah-lo. It was Kah-lo\u2019s birthday on the night of the concert, and after her set finished, everybody backstage came out, including Bea Miller in what looked like pajamas, to wish Kah-lo a happy birthday: birthday cake, candles, and all. It was cute.<\/p>\n

I now know that Bea Miller loves Halloween, hates when it gets dark during the winter, hates Christmas because all she would get were socks, wrote \u201coutside\u201d originally to be a terrible song so her management team would give her a break, and thinks blowing her nose sounds like an elephant. Thank you to the 1824 team of Universal Music for giving me a ticket to cover this show. It exceeded all expectations.<\/p>\n