Coco and Clair Clair graced Lincoln Hall this past Tuesday and left the audience transformed.
Story and photos by Jessica Post
Coco and Clair Clair are an indie pop/rap duo that has risen to fame since their first project in 2017. Most well-known for their 2018 track “Pretty,”Chicago marked the halfway point of the duo’s U.S. tour. The Atlanta duo, comprised of Taylor Nave and Clair Toothill, first met on Twitter in the early 2010s. When their friendship transcended the internet, they began recording music together under Awful Records and released their debut album entitled Posh. This sparked Coco & Clair Clair’s rise in popularity, putting their unique sound on the map with tracks like “Sims 2”. That same year, the duo released “Pretty” and “Crushcrushcrush”,both being met with great success.
By 8 pm, we were standing shoulder to shoulder in Lincoln Hall when Raven Artson took the stage. Their set consisted of smooth pop vocals layered on experimental psychedelic beats – a successful recipe to get the crowd dancing. As a self-proclaimed mixture of Talking Heads and Frank Ocean, Artson held the crowd’s attention. With most of the concertgoers being in the Gen Z age range, when Artson played the song from the movie White Chicks, “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton, everyone recognized the song and couldn’t help but sing along.
To ensure a high-energy crowd for the following performers, Artson ended the set with a remix of Coco and Clair Clair’s “Pretty.” Again, the crowd could not help but sing along. Artson proved to be a great opening act. His ability to showcase his personal music while intertwining with known crowd favorites was a treat that foreshadowed what the rest of the evening had in store.
Next up on Tuesday’s bill was the alt-rock band, grandma. The band’s frontman Liam Hall began making music independently in 2019. He is now performing alongside musicians such as Rex Detiger (brother of bassist and TikTok sensation Blu DeTiger). The band’s sound is defined by catchy lyrics and explosive choruses. Even if you were not familiar with the band before the show, you found yourself singing along. While the lyrics to their tracks were classically pop, the band had an edge that resulted from their astral, hazy bass.
To further separate themselves from the classic pop genre, a staple of grandma’s performance is the neon storefront sign that attaches to the back of their keyboard. Displaying sometimes random and often wry messages such as “We scored on our own team again” and “Angelhood Vape & Smoke”. Angelhood is the band’s most recent EP, and the incorporation of a storefront sign into their performance felt like a tasteful middle finger to capitalism, this encapsulating and promoting the vibe the band is going for.
When grandma left the stage, I was energized and anxiously awaiting the main act. When the self-described “demon glam pop” duo took the stage, I could not take my eyes off them. The two looked phenomenal on stage. Coco, dressed in all black with a strapless corset layered atop a long sleeve. Clair Clair, sporting an oversized leather jacket and two thick braids, they immediately commanded the stage. The duo was both sporting sunglasses (as was I…) adding to their mystique. Coco and Clair Clair opened their set with the second track on their latest album, “Bad Lil Vibe”, cultivating the opposite amongst concertgoers.
The two displayed their musical sentiment brilliantly. Giving equal time to show off each artists’ strengths; Coco’s witty rap verses and Clair Clair’s breathy vocals. Halfway through their set, the duo surprised the crowd with their cover of Abba’s “Dancing Queen.” Once again, everyone recognized the song and couldn’t help but sing along. Following this cover, Coco and Clair Clair continued to grace us with their covertly aggressive lyrics hidden behind buttery vocals and an ethereal sound. The duo made the crowd out to believe that they concluded the show with their hit Pop Star. After nonchalantly exiting the stage, they returned to belt the song that put them on the map, “Sims 2”. Closing with this song acted as the completion of the band’s monomyth – but it was the audience who left transformed!