LÉON performs first concert in The Netherlands to promote debut LP
Swedish pop artist LËON had her breakthrough in 2015 when her first single ‘Tired of Talking’ achieved viral success. She continued to build a following with a handful of EPs and numerous singles until she finally released her self-titled debut LP earlier this year. Enough reason for the lady with the soulful voice to finally embark on her own European tour. She visited the Netherlands before to perform during Lowlands festival, but last weekend she finally played her first own gig in a sold out Bitterzoet in Amsterdam.
LÉON, born Lotta Lindgren, took the stage with three band members, starting off with album opener ‘Lost Time’. During the first half of the show she mostly plays material from the album, including the upbeat singles ‘Baby Don’t Talk’ and ‘Falling’. She soon switches to some more moving material with the gorgeous ‘Hope Is a Heartache’ and the midtempo track ‘Better In The Dark’ about a love affair that only takes place at night. LÉON has a confident stage presence and it is easy to see that she is proud of the material on her debut album. She strives to perform perfect renditions of every single track and if starting over after a few lines is what it takes, then that is what she will do.
One of the emotional highlights of the night follows with a pitch perfect version of ‘Pink’, in which she even recreates the vocal effects of the studio version live on stage. She performs the track ‘Curel To Care’, which appears on the album as a voice note, completely stripped back, showing off the warmth and soul in her voice. With her latest single ‘You And I’, probably the most uptempo tune of her discography, she makes the audience losen up a bit. Although LÉON is not big on having lengthy chats with her fans while being on stage, she has a charming personality and jokes around with her band members and the people in the front rows. LÉON is not the most outgoing performer, but it still feels like you get to know her a bit better watching her perform.
After she performs the majority of the album tracks, it is time to fire some of her most well known singles at the audience. She sings firy renditions of excellent pop tunes like ‘Liar’ and ‘For You’ and she decided to save her two biggest hits to date until the very end. When she finally sings the soaring chorus of the warm and fuzzy ‘Surround Me’, Bitterzoet sings along and of course ‘Tired of Talking’ is the perfect climax to her show. LÉON gives an excellent performance and both her soulful powerhouse vocals and her atmospheric pop songs could easily light up bigger venues too!