by Onome Uyovbievbo
SAN FRANCISCO – Expressing nothing but glam rock realness, Spencer Sutherland brings The Drama Tour to The Fillmore Thursday night.
Donning a teal two-piece sequin outfit and a flaunting a 70’s attitude that would rival the greatest of showmen, Sutherland welcomes all to his modern rock opera, an epic hour-long performance. Diving straight into songs from his sophomore album, The Drama, the sliding intro riff of “Alive” rolls into a thunderous beat that reverberates through the venue. It was such a treat to see an artist that truly embodies rock stars of old in a modern form with the songwriting skills to boot.
Demonstrating the range of his artistry from the stadium rock-like ballad like “Everybody” off his first album “In His Mania” to the Buckcherry grunginess in “Baby” to his sultry falsetto in “Chicken Little”, Spencer Sutherland speaks to the truths of life encapsulated within his whimsical lyrics.
In the middle of the show, evoking the prowess of one his favorite bands, Queen, Sutherland channeled his inner Freddie Mercury in a cover of “Don’t Stop Me Now”, a classic to those familiar with the legendary band. Another favorite of the night was “Put Your Money Me”, reminiscent of the 2003 hit “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” by The Darkness, it was truly a delight to reimagine this sound more than 20 years later.
Words echoed by Sutherland is something people should examine in their own lives is that when you are chasing a dream, you should be genuine, authentic, and things will fall into place. There is no shame in being yourself. Closing this show with his hit single, “Drama”, Spencer Sutherland delivers a masterclass of how to honor the past and make it an extension of himself.
Setlist:
- Welcome To The Show!
- Alive
- Everybody
- Let Me Loose
- God Save The Dream
- Cry
- Melanie
- Modern Heartbreak
- Motherfucker
- Don’t Stop Me Now
- Jealousy
- Baby
- A Tragedy!
- Put Your Money On Me
- Sweater
- Chicken Little
- Hater
- Drama
- Place Like This
Hailing from the great land of Montreal, Stacey Ryan tantalized the audience with her sultry R&B vocals. The talent of multi-instrumentalist shines in songs such as “Deep End”, “The Idea”, and “Everything Everything” infusing French through her lyrics, As a newly independent artist, Ryan expressed the feeling of freedom and defining her own path ending with her biggest song to date, “Fall In Love Alone”.
Cloe Wilder opened the show with songs from her latest EP, Life’s A Bitch, which include ‘Heavyweight Champion”, “Fear The Fall”, and “Tallahassee”. Swaying to ethereal melodies Wilder evokes influences from artists from Lana Del Ray and Kasey Musgraves within her delicate, breathy vocalizations. The Floridian recalled that her first tour was with Sutherland and ended her set with “Cigarette”, a song the two wrote together.
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