Tove Lo | Sweden's Musical Gift
f28 got the pleasure of covering Tove Lo during her tour stop in Raleigh NC on February 6th 2020.
Photo by Chris Sturk
Before I start talking about the show, I just want to point out that we had some very bad weather in the Raleigh NC and surroundings areas on February 6th. We had tornado watches and warnings, heavy torrential rain at different points throughout the day and heavy wind gusts which downed trees and powerlines. The reason I bring this up is because even with weather like that going on around us Tove Lo fans still broke through the weather warnings and packed the Ritz to show their love for Tove Lo. That by itself makes a statement for the impact that Tove Lo’s music has had on music fans and what she means to her fans.
Now the show.
Tove Lo is from Sweden and was once called “Swedens darkest pop export” by Rolling Stone. I have no idea what that means but what I saw was incredible energy and pop music magic being played out on stage in front of me during her performance. She is known for her “grunge” like writing style and creative take on pop music. Her lyrics have outstretched their personal attachment to her and have been embraced by music fans around the world. Many fans I saw that night were singing along with each lyric as if they wrote the lyrics themselves and had gone through the same thing Tove Lo was singing about. You could see how fans of her music found comfort in her words and how it brought joy to them. Not many pop artists have that kind of connection with their music fans but Tove Lo has a connection with her fans that comes organically through her music.
As we waited by the pit for our que to enter, the lights went dim. I and a few other photographers were then ushered in by security. The fans were already going crazy and she had not even walked on stage yet. As I settled into my spot in the pit when a phone started ringing and a mini light show started to display on stage. During this time band members on her tour started running out on stage to their respective instruments and then things went silent. It was the calm before the storm. In the blink of an eye the lights kicked up and you could see Tove Lo walking from backstage and once the crowd got a glimpse of her the screaming and yelling was so loud that I am surprised my earplugs did not burst! Tove Lo came out and immediately started bringing the noise. She started into her first song and mixed her stage performance up with dancing, jumping and the fan favorite “booty” shaking which got the crowd to scream louder each time she shook her booty. There was a large half dome style screen behind her that would display different colors, images and a row of lights below that shooting of laser like light shows with pint point accuracy. She ran around the stage and engaged with fans while sounding clean, clear and her voice was on key. She would also do a interpretive dance routine throughout her performance. I don’t think this was something intentional, but she brought a lot of passion and energy to the stage and each movement almost felt like she was telling a story with it. I don’t know how else to describe it but it was fun to watch!
Tove Lo did not skip a beat throughout her performance and talked with the crowd between songs as well as thanking everyone for coming out even in the bad weather. If you are a fan of Tove Lo and have never seen her live, then you are missing out on her unique almost interpretative dance style stage performance. Tove Lo is currently on tour and she does put on one enjoyable show and a strong performance.
~ Lead Photographer Chris Sturk
Website
https://tove-lo.com/