Culture | Music “There’s a rugged drama to playing a show in the rain that I’ve always wanted to experience,” said Arlo Parks , onstage at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. On Monday evening, that dream came true as the heavens opened and drenched the gorgeous, outdoors venue along with everyone in it. “Let’s commit to it,” Parks offered, before she continued to dance in the non-stop rain and encouraged others to follow suit.
Well, if there’s one artist who knows how to find joy in misery...
Arlo Parks first stole hearts with the raw poetry that made up her Mercury Prize -winning debut album Collapsed In Sunbeams . A central figure of the intimate bedroom pop scene, her music reflected the isolation, uncertainty and confusion many of us were experiencing over the pandemic, offering quiet comfort in the process. Wanting to evolve beyond the confines of “sad girl indie” though, last year’s My Soft Machine saw Parks turn her gaze outwards.
Sure, there were still pained reflections on grief, self-sabotage and the anxiety of settling into your 20s, but there were also explosive moments of love and joy with the entire record channeling a newfound warmth, mined from communal hope. It was ambitious, grand and made to be played live. On Monday, Parks was joined by a three-piece band to give those lush, confrontational songs added bite, while the heavy rain only amplified that feeling of togetherness in the crowd.
The opening one-two of Bruiseless and Weightless c.
