The word I keep coming back to with Lizzo is “undeniable.”
Her voice can’t be denied. Her energy can’t be denied. And her ability to make you get up and dance can’t be denied. She showcased all that and more in her Coachella Weekend 2 set on Sunday.
She wailed through the same set as last week, but without all the derailing technical difficulties … well, almost made it through the whole set.
During her closing song, “Juice,” which she self-proclaimed the song of the summer — she’s all about positive and loving yourself — there was some sort of glitch halfway through. Unlike last week, when the backing track kept cutting out, this one was not evident to the crowd. It was something about the ear piece Lizzo was using that stopped working.
She stopped the song, said something to the effect of “Oh, hell no! I’m not letting this happen again.” And she continued the song using just her voice, her DJ’s voice and the overflowing Mojave tent crowd to fill in the rest. It turned into a fun singalong, but just like last week, you could tell Lizzo was unhappy. Then she proved it.
She grabbed her flute, which was supposed to be part of the last song, and played some beautiful trilly jazz flute, before saying into the mic loudly enough for the technical crews of both weekends to here: “Suck my (expletive).”
OK, well that was the unfortunate final few minutes of a show that delivered everything there is to love about Lizzo. Her crusade for body positivity, her unwavering vocals, and her general ability to have all kinds of fun up there on stage.
She started out by belting her way through “Cuz I Love You,” a song she played live for the first time last weekend. That opener lets fans new to Lizzo know that this woman can sing. I mean we’re talking about Aretha Franklin levels here.
With that out of the way, she’s able to just get down to the fun. Her next three songs “Worship,” “Water Me” and “Scuse Me” are just plain party igniters. Dance jams. Female power anthems. Whatever you want to call them.
And speaking of dancers, Lizzo has a talented troupe of dancers she calls “The Big Girls” who show there are no limitations when it’s time to get down. She even had a few “big boys” break it down on stage to the delight of the crowd.
Lizzo soaked in the moment mid-set as a picture of her was on screen, the large crowd simply went into a roar. She sort of stopped what she was about to say and just smiled and listened to the crowd’s positive reinforcement. A “Hallelujah” moment for her, which was fitting for a set she started by saying “Welcome to the church of self-love.”
As she did the first week, she had the whole crowd sing “No Scrubs” by TLC and then stopped the song short to talk about a real scrub — Jerome.
It’s a whole song about a guy who apparently lives in Atlanta who did her wrong. Let’s just say I’m glad I’m not Jerome.
But individual empowerment is definitely the thread that runs through her show. She preaches about, loving yourself, never being someone’s side chick (Jerome, I’m looking in your direction) and being married to yourself. Lizzo said she did that and it was a beautiful wedding, “The bride looked beautiful and the bride looked beautiful” she joked.
People are climbing over themselves to get on the Lizzo hype train, as evidenced by the fact that her album “Cuz I Love You” — which came out Friday — is already No. 1.
And I say go ahead and hop on board, too. If her two Coachella sets are any indication, it’s going to be a fun ride, even with a few bumps, but whatever happens it’s moving full steam ahead.
Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.
