Solya has been an artist that I had picked up from one of the general meetings here at Kamp Student Radio. One of the MDs of last year played a song or two from her album, and it had me hooked from there. After realizing that she was going to be performing somewhere that was less than 5 minutes away from me, I jumped the gun and knew that I had to be there. I have not been to many concerts in my time, and my first one ever dated back to a few months ago. Nonetheless, this was an amazing experience.
When we first arrived, close to 7pm, the line to get in was quite long. Me and a friend of mine were waiting in line for maybe 20 minutes before we were able to get in. I loved the atmosphere outside of the club as well as inside. When you first arrive inside of the venue, you see a bar on the left, and if you turn left, that is where the stage is. I felt that it was quite crowded and a little hard to see from the back, but the acoustics were able to reach us, and I was at least able to see bits and pieces. I loved how the stage looked, with the metal designs around the border of the stage and the lights that emitted out of it. When you faced the stage, there were two merch booths on the left hand side.
When we were able to get into the venue, the openers had already started playing. They are called Tele Novella. I had never heard about them until this concert. It was safe to say that I really enjoyed it. I loved the vibe of their music and how the members played with each other on stage. Their music had a very medieval country feel to it. I haven’t really heard anything like that before. If they were to come back to Tucson, Arizona, I would definitely try to go to one of their concerts.
After Tele Novella finished playing there was an intermission before the main artist, Solya, came out and played. While they were moving Solyas things in, I noticed that the mic that she was using had flowers and vines on it, which really matches her aesthetic for this album. When she came onto the stage it felt surreal. She started off by playing “tell me its over” she sings about leaving a toxic relationship and how it comes with feeling free and having clarity. It can be described by her as taking back something that was taken from her, with a safe space for processing. She played a total of 15 songs at the concert.
I know this might be considered a basic pick but i LOVE “Is this love??”. “Is this love??” was the last song of the night, and it was beautiful. The song gives off a very indie pop, ethereal vibe to it, where she sings about “love”. Which, in this case, is more of a song on infatuation and how it can be very dangerous.
After the concert, we were able to look at the openers’ merch stand too. When we first got into the venue, we were able to look at Solya’s merch stand and purchase stuff. I had gotten a CD, a pin, and a shirt from Solya’s booth. When we went to the openers’ stand, they were there chatting with anyone that came up to the stand. I had gotten 2 CDs and a lighter. I had the three things I got signed by them.
They had a song about Tucson, Arizona; it was called “Wishing Shrine”. We were able to ask about what the meaning behind the song was. The main vocalist let us know that the song was about someone she used to live across the hall from. She had shown her something that she holds very closely, but since seeing her she has never been able to reunite with them anymore. I feel that the song gives off a lot of longing, grief, and hope.
The only thing that I would say about the merch stands is that I feel like they could have been more conveniently placed, since most people had trouble seeing if there was a line or not with the layout. Overall, I really enjoyed the ambiance of Club Congress. I would go back there for a concert now that I know what to expect. I loved both artists that played and how they went about playing on stage. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.
