Concert Review: Rina Sawayama at ACL Weekend 1 Saturday
The multi-faceted, ever-talented, and certified Editor-in-Chief of Mother Times, Rina Sawayama, obliterated the stage this Saturday at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Written by Adam Cherian
Photos courtesy of Jay Janner/American-Statesman
There’s only one word accurate enough to describe Rina Sawayama after watching her perform live, and stans across the internet shout it when referring to her: “mother.” The 33-year-old pop star, model, and actress made her ACL debut this past Saturday, and left weekend 1 festival goers with blessed ears and eyes.
The clock struck 4:00 p.m., and the jumbotron TV behind the stage stunned viewers with the image of a small girl resembling Sawayama. The visuals set the scene, while the stage was dressed with white tarps covering the drummer and guitarist. Out comes the Japanese-British musician, sliding her back down the speaker equipment, wearing a white victorian-esque dress, and singing the title track of her most recently released project Hold the Girl. One thing was for sure: the mic was on. Sawayama’s voice sounded exactly like her studio recordings, with impeccable breath control, clarity and all.
Following up the emotional intro, she next sang “Catch Me In The Air” and “Hurricanes,” both extremely emotional songs, the former being an ode to her mother. The fog machines blanketed the stage with thick smoke, as Sawayama belted with all her heart. Leaving the stage for an outfit change, her dancers performed a flawless routine, the crowd enthusiastically cheering them on. Out comes Sawayama in a white button down t-shirt and jeans, both very baggy and foreshadowing an outfit reveal. The audience, however, was more enamored with the beautifully dramatic vocals of her next songs “Dynasty” and “Imagining.”
As she kneels on the ground, head down after performing “Imagining,” the familiar guitar’s intro and signature plumes of smoke signaled to the audience that it was time for the nu-metal banger “STFU!” While Sawayama typically gives a spoken intro to this song in her live performances, she opted to address the audience and asserted “I know you got some anger inside of you!” In the past she has used this intro to call out frontman of The 1975 Matty Healy, in reference to his history of racist remarks and other personal beef. All drama aside, the energetic and cathartically angry performance shook the crowd to their core.
After a few more songs like “Frankenstein” and “Bad Friend,” followed by a skit where Sawayama acted as a beaten down boxer ready to go back into the ring, she surprised the crowd with a brand new song she titled “Scream It In Your Heart.” The anthemic track about finding where you belong in this world despite being from a small town, is reminiscent of renowned power ballads like Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” This transitioned into fan favorite “Comme Des Garçons (Like the Boys),” a track about austere confidence set to a pulsing beat and riddled with Sawayama’s legendary self-assurance.
The stage broke out into another skit in which Sawayama and her dancers sat in an imaginary plane, where they’re all reading the award winning Newspaper “Mother Times.” The acknowledgment of her fans’ own lexicon when referring to her is refreshing to see; the excitement one gets from their favorite artists giving a nod to their niche fandoms is no doubt exhilarating. The performance halted again and as the pop star was preparing herself for “XS,” she stripped off her white shirt and jeans for a dominatrix-style red lingerie set and whip (that she had no problem using). Shifting into the track, she gave the crowd a sexy yet powerful routine with her dancers, doing the anti-capitalist tune justice.
Sawayama ended the performance with the lead single of Hold the Girl, “This Hell.” Taking a minute for her crew to put on her cowboy boots and hat, she jumped back on stage and square danced to the hit about LGBTQ+ acceptance. Once the song was over she instructed the crowd to perform along with her, one side singing “Got my invitation to eternal damnation” and the other chanting afterward “Get in line, pass the wine, bitch, we're going straight to Hell.” Ending her nearly one-hour set, Sawayama definitely turned heads at her ACL debut.