I was lucky to catch Sudan Archives just before the covid shutdown at the Entry. I enjoyed it but to be honest my awareness of this artist faded a bit until she came roaring back into it with “Selfish Soul” earlier this summer. So I made my trek to the Fine Line with high expectations and a silent prayer for better lighting than the famous “Red Light Entry”.
First up was Chicago’s Lulu Be. She started with a DJ set. I took a few photos of her behind her laptop and put my cameras away. Not my best move 🙂 as she moved to the front of the stage and delegated the DJing, leaving me scrambling to set up for photos muttering to myself about doing some damn research on openers and not being lazy. Her short set was energetic and got the fans streaming into the Fine Line ready.
Sudan Archives just released her sophomore album “Natural Brown Prom Queen” and the prom theme was weaved into her set culminating with the crowing of a prom queen from the audience and pulling her on stage. She is a natural on stage making her serious multi-tasking skills seem effortless. Her connection with the diverse crowd was fun to watch. I have seen too many shows where I feel some in the crowd are just there because an artist is “popular”. In Sudan Archive’s case, she is one of them. Not a product conjured up by a record label’s marketing department but an artist raised on the shoulders of her fans. Her music is just as diverse as her audience, weaving classic influences and modern tunes.Set List: Home Maker / TDLY (Homegrown Land) (Live debut) / Oatmeal / Ciara /Confessions / Freakalizer / Loyal (EDD) / Glorious / OMG BRITT / ChevyS10 / Iceland Moss / Instrumental / Nont for Sale / Milk Me / NBPQ (Topless) / Selfish Soul / Homesick (Gorgeous & Arrogant)
Encore: FLUE / Come Meh Way