Celebrating the finale of her debut tour, singer/songwriter Maude Latour rocked the stage at Irving Plaza to enchant her fans once again before taking a hiatus to work on her upcoming album. The 22 year-old is a recent graduate from Columbia University and has spent the last few months traveling around the U.S. to perform while releasing her own original music.
Traveling from New Paltz to NYC was a breeze with the Metro-North Railroad, and within a few short hours I found myself fourth in line for the venue. Anticipating a larger queue, partly due to the stigma of concert-going, we had arrived extremely early to the venue and had the opportunity to see Latour walking in for her sound check. Quickly becoming acquainted with the few people in line, we patiently waited to be allowed entry to the venue while exchanging followers on social media.
As the clock struck 7 p.m., over 1,200 pairs of eager eyes waited in anticipation. The opening act came onto stage to satisfy the audience prior to Latour’s set. Simone, an up-and-coming singer/songwriter took to the stage with high energy and the goal to keep the crowd excited to see Latour. Proving the power of a DM, she explained how by simply messaging Latour on Instagram, she was able to make her way to the Irving Plaza stage. Simone’s relatable energy was recognized from the audience immediately, as she performed some of her original songs.
“I think it was also one of my first times playing with tracks and with a drummer … usually in the past years I’ve just been playing acoustic sets, so it’s obviously very hard,” Simone explained. “And so with this set, I incorporated a lot more of my heavy pop songs because obviously Maude is this great pop superstar, so I added a lot more songs that I don’t play live anymore, but thought would fit the vibe well.”
As Simone finished up her upbeat set, the crowd was growing antsy to see Latour. The crew was setting up, and the crowd cheered upon seeing a rhinestone covered water bottle being placed on stage. Seconds later, Latour greeted the stage with a matching rhinestone microphone in her hand. In her hometown of NYC, she opened the set with her recent release “Cyclone” which got the audience excited and in awe of her presence. As the first song came to an end, a slew of flowers were thrown onto stage. She was initially sporting a sparkly black matching set, half covered by a Thrasher hoodie, but as the show went on Latour did a few costume changes.
Latour reflected to the audience that it was surreal that she was playing at Irving Plaza; it was the largest crowd of her entire tour. A few more familiar favorites were splashed into the setlist — songs like “001,” “Strangers Forever” and “Lola” had the audience dancing and vibing together. Halfway through her set, she left the stage to return in blue shorts and a purple tank top. The show felt very intimate, as I was standing quite literally right at the stage — but even the people in the top V.I.P. section seemed to feel connected to the performance.
As the show went on, Latour interacted with the audience as much as she could. She announced her rule of one BeReal per show, and took a photo with a fan’s phone. Audience members threw different types of gifts onto the stage, including a Squishmallow, notes, bracelets and a pair of cheetah print gloves which Latour wore for the remainder of her show. It’s heartwarming as an audience member to see a performer act so real with their fans, and other artists could take some notes.
Latour was definitely giving her last show of her tour everything she could. As her regular set came to a close with her hit song “One More Weekend” echoing throughout, Latour actually climbed over the barricade to stand in the audience and finish out her song. She was then escorted backstage, allowing the audience to assume the show was over.
Minutes later, she returned to the stage in a floor length rhinestone dress. She then played two more songs to finalize the show: “Furniture” and then “Block Your Number.” The crowd was high energy until the lights went off — and the show was one like no other. Latour is truly a wonderful performer and her stage presence at Irving Plaza was magnetic. She’s now spending some time in her hometown of New York City to focus on producing an album.
