Photo of Yola by David McClister, courtesy of Big Feat PR.
w/ Amythyst Kiah | 8:00 PM | Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Ave. | All ages | $20 advance, $25 day of show
Ilove opening acts. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear new music for the first time live and without any expectations. I don’t look them up before shows and I don’t listen to their songs. I like to be surprised. This has paid off extremely well (Brandi Carlile, Larkin Poe) for me in the past.
I was waiting for the Lake Street Dive show to begin and was talking with a friend when this VOICE nearly knocked me over. The voice, the song, the sound, the everything. My jaw literally dropped, and I turned to my friend.
“Who in the FUCK is that?”
I don’t think I’ve ever been so entranced with an opening band, or with a singer. It was like Tina Turner and Dolly Parton had a child and that child was named Yola. I was actively angry with my friend for not introducing me to Yola’s music before this.
Yola has shared stages with the Highwomen, Brandi Carlile, Mavis Staples, Kaycee Musgraves, and Greta Van Fleet, and will soon begin her solo tour. With a voice this resonant, music this important and a message that touches all of us, Yola is going to be that singer that you turn to your friend and say, “I saw her live, you know. This one time in St. Louis. She was amazing.”
The good news is, she’s coming back to St. Louis, you guys. This time, she’s not an opener. She’s leading her own charge at Off Broadway on January 17, 2020. Tickets are on sale on Friday, September 20th. You don’t want to miss this. | Melissa Cynova
