GAYLE‘s current tour takes her to San Francisco tonight, and in a few weeks, she’ll join AJR on their tour as an opening act. It’s her first major tour, but “abcdefu” singer says the inspiration for her live show didn’t come from watching another artist’s concert — it came from watching a movie.
“I was watching this movie…a couple of months into quarantine…it was Almost Famous,” GAYLE tells ABC Audio, referring to the acclaimed 2000 Cameron Crowe film about a teen journalist who goes on the road with a fictional rock band to profile them for Rolling Stone.
“It was right when they were on tour and [the writer] was seeing the first show that this rock band was doing,” recalls GAYLE. “And I remember, there’s even a specific moment where the main performer was like, ‘I want to look at the one person who’s not enjoying the show and make them enjoy the show.'”
She laughs, “They didn’t particularly say it like that — that’s the most, like, PG-ish version I could say!”
But, says GAYLE, that was her “aha” moment when it came to imagining what kind of live performer she wants to be.
“I was like, ‘That is what I want to do,'” she remembers. “I just saw this…room just packed with sweaty people ready to have a good time and all ready to rock out together. And I literally was like, ‘That’s what I want to do…that is what I want my live show to be.'”
“And then everything I’ve done has been trying to take that energy and put it into my show,” she says.
GAYLE’s live shows include the songs on her debut EP, some older tunes, some unreleased tracks and a cover of Joan Jett‘s “Bad Reputation.”
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