As one third of the sad girl supergroup boygenius, Lucy Dacus has amassed a cult following. Delighting fans with its melancholic and introspective lyricism as well as backing vocal appearances from both of her bandmates, her recent release reached number five in the album charts, marking her first top five record in the UK. Bringing Manchester’s own jasmine.4.t along for the album’s tour, Dacus offered a beautiful, engaging performance to a sold-out Manchester Academy, allowing her audience a further glimpse into the world of Forever is a Feeling.
Arriving on stage with her band, jasmine.4.t didn’t waste time in mentioning that “this is my hometown”. Her previous Manchester appearances have included a slot at the BBC Introducing showcase at this year’s BBC Radio 6 Music Festival, as well as a recent headline show at Deaf Institute, making Manchester Academy a huge step up in terms of capacity. Despite the large crowd, Jasmine flawlessly retained her stage presence, appearing approachable and never once losing confidence. Perhaps she was aided by the crowd’s appreciation and readiness to sing lyrics back to her, which materialised as ‘Guy Fawkes Tesco Disassociation’, her collaboration with boygenius member Phoebe Bridgers, was performed as the first song of her set.
While Jasmine played all guitar parts in the set herself, ‘Elephant’ allowed Phoenix Rousiamanis to showcase her dexterity on violin. “This is my third tour with Lucy Dacus”, Jasmine mentioned as the song reached its end. “The first one was in 2018 before my transition, and I cannot tell you how incredible it is for all four of us to be out here as four trans women in front of all you loving people”. “Thank you for your solidarity”, she concluded, receiving cheers from the audience before the title track of her debut album You Are the Morning followed, which she describes as “about queer friendship and solidarity”. The album was produced by all three members of boygenius, which Lucy Dacus’ crowd were evidently pleased to hear.
As ‘You Are the Morning’ drew to a close, Jasmine could be seen embracing her bassist, Emily Abbott. ‘Find Your People’, an unreleased track debuted in Glasgow the previous night, then appeared, with Jasmine stating “I feel like you guys are my people”. Another new song followed, which is currently under the “working title” ‘Sound City 3’, before Jasmine informed the crowd that “we have actually recorded these ones, and I’m hoping to put them out soon”.
To close the set, Jasmine and her band performed ‘Did U Know’, a song that is always guaranteed to be a live highlight when it appears on one of her setlists. Jasmine hopped from the stage to join the front row for the track’s end, and dedicated it to her best friend Yulia Trot, part of the Filton 18 who are currently being held on remand, awaiting trial after allegedly partaking in actions against an Israeli weapons firm in Bristol. As the band departed the stage, Jasmine’s drummer held up a Protect Trans Lives t-shirt, in a triumphant gesture aptly closing a set celebrating and invoking social justice.
Lucy’s own set may have got off to a rocky start due to a crowd emergency during ‘Hot & Heavy’, the first song of her performance, but soon picked up with a rendition of ‘Ankles’. Combining sexual references with images of domestic simplicity, the song portrays a relationship which is intimate beyond the physical, but it also contributes to the multitude of questions asked across Lucy’s discography: while ‘Hot & Heavy’ asks “how did I believe I had a hold on you?”, ‘Ankles’ asks “what if we don’t touch? What if we only talk about what we want and cannot have?” and contemplates “how lucky are we to have so much to lose?”
‘Modigliani’ and ‘Limerence’ sustained a streak of Forever is a Feeling tracks; the former was accompanied by the first notable use of elaborate staging designed to resemble the outside of a house, with windows doubling up as portrait frames. Imported into Manchester Academy for the night, the staging seemed more suited to a venue like the O2 Apollo, or the ornate O2 Academy Brixton which Dacus made a stop at earlier in her tour. Here, it appeared slightly out of place, and resulted in the members of Lucy’s band being cramped into the small remaining space, although its effect did allow the night’s performance to be transformed into a show, becoming so much more than a regular gig.
Speaking for the first time five songs in, aptly after a performance of ‘First Time’, all it took was “my name is Lucy Dacus” to warrant ear-splitting screams. “I’m very happy to be here”, Lucy stated, lauding Manchester as “one of those cities I look forward to every time we come on tour”. Throughout this tour, Dacus has been regularly switching up the setlist with requests she receives before the show: tonight’s were ‘Triple Dog Dare’ and ‘Nonbeliever’, which were both scattered throughout the set. Following ‘For Keeps’, however, Dacus stated “I want to add a song”. Snubbing the crowd’s suggestions with a declaration that “I’ve already made my choice”, Dacus noted that “someone did ask for this song with a somewhat pleading look earlier, and I don’t want to be haunted by that” before performing acoustic renditions of ‘Cartwheel’ and ‘Fool’s Gold’.
After being met by the loudest cheers of the night so far, Lucy’s live version of ‘I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore’ entirely outshone its original, which appears on 2016’s No Burden. Following this, Dacus invited jasmine.4.t to return to the stage, introducing her as “Hozier’s cousin” as she emerged from backstage in a Hozier-style wig and false beard. This has become a highly anticipated part of the show for Lucy’s fanbase, offering a moment of humour amongst the melancholy of the music. As the duet came to an end, Dacus noted “I’ll miss this”: the Manchester date closed the UK leg of her tour, and her last show with Jasmine as support came the following day in Dublin.
‘Most Wanted Man’, an ode to Lucy’s bandmate and current partner Julien Baker, asks “who gets the chance like the one that I have, to catch the most wanted man in West Tennessee?”, in reference to Baker’s Memphis background. Live, the song provided a short-lived break from the despondency of many of Lucy’s songs; this didn’t last long, however, as ‘Lost Time’ began to draw the show to a close. ‘Lost Time’ is a track that starts slow before dropping like a tonne of bricks on the emotions, and saw Dacus switching guitars mid-song to enable its effect. As the obvious pre-encore choice, title track ‘Forever is a Feeling’ led the audience in a jubilant, carefree chant that seemed purifying after the wallowing that had dominated the majority of the show.
Evidently short on time due to the earlier decision of adding a song to the setlist, Dacus and her band returned to the stage following a brief break. ‘True Blue’ opened the encore as the only boygenius track to make the cut this time around, and was followed by ‘Night Shift’, a song that has had an immense cultural impact since its release in 2017 due to its tale of restructuring life post-breakup. The track was received accordingly by an adoring audience, and closed Lucy’s performance with a moment of catharsis so powerful that it cannot be overstated.
By the end of her performance, it was safe to say that Lucy Dacus had proved her standing as a solo artist. With an enchanting stage presence and an array of tear-jerking tracks behind her, Dacus captivated the audience from start to finish, rarely missing a note. Pausing often to speak to her crowd or take a request, Dacus ensured that the set became more than just her show. Every attendee left feeling a personal connection to her, as well as the music, resulting in an unforgettable experience for all involved.
