Seeing Allison Russell Perform

I saw Allison Russell live at the Lincoln Theater in DC last night, and it was so very special at a time when joy globally feels dried up.

Seeing art in all its forms is a goal of mine this year. For less than $100, I was able to snag VIP tickets to see Allison. She’s not in the Beyoncé or Doechii stratosphere, she’s more like India Arie, for a focused and limited few where tickets prices won’t be half of the month’s rent or require a coordinated outfit from some influencer‘s Amazon shop.

Allison is a contemporary folk singer and songwriter (my favorite album of hers is Outside Child). I don’t know who all falls into that category; all I know is she gives me the same joy and head-nodding, finger-snapping energy as Nina Simone and Valerie June. Music that makes you feel tapped into something from another generation, ancestral music really. (If you’ve watched Sinners, think of that dancing scene and when singing the blues took a hold of the room).

It’s the kind of music most people ask me to turn off when they get in my car, because apparently there are way cooler music choices than mine.

I don’t care, though. When I’m alone, painting, cleaning, enjoying a slow morning, or taking a long solo car drive, it’s my Black folk and blues playlist, Nina Simone or Bon Iver.

I knew Allison was special, but last night’s show sealed it for me.

She was born in Montreal, Canada, to a white mom who had her young with a Grenadian man. Her mom later married a white American who sexually and physically abused Allison from age 5 to 15. She ran away from home at 15, was homeless for a while, and eventually found community and support through music.

You couldn’t tell this anguishing past from her energy and outgoing personality on stage. She’s bubbly, high-energy, exudes a carefree essence, talkative in an extroverted way, and just gives free vibes.

Although, a dead giveaway that someone’s done the work or explored all mediums for peace was the yoga-like altar of crystals, candles, and lotus-shaped bowls she had set up on stage, as well as the sage she burned and twirled around her head before starting her set. If you’ve had your swirl in the yoga-mystic life, you went through some stuff. I’ve been there.

With the VIP tickets, I was able to enter the theatre about an hour before the show started to hear the sound check and for the small VIP audience to interact with Allison. She was attentive to the audience all while the crew was setting up and practicing songs.

When the full set started, her energy was palpable. Her voice way more beautiful live then on streaming. Her voice is the real deal.

She also plays multiple instruments, the banjo and clarinet both whipped out effortlessly throughout her set.

Throughout the show I kept thinking…here’s an artist. Someone who has relatively fully realized their potential despite pain and trauma. She’s a natural showman with an easy command of the stage, the audience and complete authenticity with her music preferences. There’s no complicated dance show to pull our attention, just pure good, visceral music that she heeded even if her voice could also do pop or R&B and probably garner wider success.

The audience was mostly white. The sprinkles of people of color gave India.Arie, Jill Scott, neo-soul vibes—if you know, you know.

Despite the lack of diversity in the audience, Allison didn’t shy away from lifting up marginalized voices. She proudly shared multiple songs she had dedicated to the African American Museum in DC during a time she said it was under attack by the administration.

She pleaded for peace in Palestine, Israel, Congo, Sudan, and America in between songs, and lamented about trans rights and fascism. She was fierce about these topics in a way that made some moments feel like an old-fashioned revival, where Black pastors conveyed social dilemmas while the crowd answered the calls with agreement and the band played.

The show was intimate and a nod to good music, not sloppily, quickly engineered tracks.

There was a balance of acoustic songs and all-out, foot-tapping, drum-laden tunes. Through it all, I enjoyed watching Allison twirl and skip around the stage like a free spirit. It communicated that we don’t always have to perform a preplanned dance combo—we can just twirl, flow, and prance with abandon.

Live performances and art in general forces you to be with it fully and spending four hours immersed in Allison’s art was simply special.