FLETCHER in Brooklyn: An Intimate Acoustic Night

FLETCHER in Brooklyn: An Intimate Acoustic Night

Experience FLETCHER in Brooklyn as she strips down her music for a raw, intimate acoustic performance as she explores her new music, personal growth, and deep connection with fans.

ggwendolyn

Indie-pop artist ggwendolyn opened the show, entering the stage in an oversized t-shirt and a furry hat. ggwendolyn introduced herself to the crowd, telling everyone she is from LA and wasn’t prepared for the New York winter weather, so she bought her hat earlier that same day, just down the street from the venue. Noting the size of the audience, the artist told fans “Fletcher said this would be an intimate show, but this is not intimate for me.” ggwendolyn sang her 2023 single “My Year of Rest & Relaxation” which seems to in fact be about a year far from rest or relaxation. The artist also performed “Small Town Rodeo” and stopped to talk for a bit and let the crowd know that she was a co-writer on FLETCHER’s 2022 album Girl of My Dreams

FLETCHER

FLETCHER has had quite the energy shift in her music career over the last several months with the release of her third studio album, Would You Still Love Me If You Really Knew Me? This new era of music brings about a more stripped back, vulnerable, introspective tone that strays from her well known powerful, upbeat pop sound. The record also brought with it some controversy. FLETCHER has long been known for being a loud and proud lesbian, focusing on lesbian-specific empowerment when it comes to her music and artist persona. The fifth track on her latest release is a song called “Boy” in which FLETCHER sings “I kissed a boy / And I know it’s not what you wanted to hear / And it wasn’t on your bingo card this year / Well, it wasn’t on mine / I fell in love / And it wasn’t with who I thought it would be / And I’m scared to think of what you’ll think of me” referencing her recent relationship with a man that came as a surprise to her fanbase. Many fans online felt betrayed and confused by one of their few mainstream proud lesbian role models trying to reconcile this sudden change. 

FLETCHER announced this acoustic show in an October instagram post captioned “I wanted to capture these songs the way they were so intimately written and to celebrate the closing of this chapter in the most honest way I know how. a stage, a microphone, and our voices together.” The artist hasn’t performed live in over a year and expressed how nervous she was. The night was all about being present and living in the moment for FLETCHER as she told the audience that she purposefully hadn’t rehearsed what she would say and planned to share her honest, live thoughts. She took a moment to light some incense and began her stripped down set. 

FLETCHER explained that she’s written so many songs about New York City, she wanted to sing one of them here so we could share this moment with her in Brooklyn. The crowd sang along to “I just had sex with my ex in a New York apartment” from the 2020 “Sex (With My Ex)”. The artist spoke a lot about the lyrics in her older music and how things in her life have changed so much since writing a lot of those songs. During the performance of “All Love”, FLETCHER explained that she is in a different place in her life compared to where she was mentally during her first time performing this song, so she changed the lyrics to sing “I say I’m doing fine but I’m not lying…do it right in front of me doesn’t  make me wanna die.”

Looking down into the front row, FLETCHER recognized faces of loyal fans who have supported her for years. “I feel like I’ve grown up with all these people. There are people in the front row who I’ve seen go through college and have been with me for so many shows. I feel like you’re all my kids. Call me mother.” She then segued into talking about how she has had a hard time navigating the music industry and struggles to feel happiness. ‘Congratulations’ has been a hard word for her to hear throughout her career because she doesn’t feel like she deserves it. “Congratulations!” is a song about that experience. “You guys can say it to me though, don’t worry.” FLETCHER joked with fans. 

Closer

The show wrapped up with the last few songs including “For Cari”, a song referencing the artists real name, about being her true self and allowing that to be enough. “Healing” featured a repeated sing-a-long chorus from the crowd of the line “I ain’t there yet but I’m healing.” Then a brief unplanned intermission where the on-stage power cut off and the speakers and microphone stopped working. Once that issue was resolved, FLETCHER performed the most upbeat track of the night “Eras of us” that had fans on their feet dancing along.