Madison Beer
Article by Brittany Ormiston
With mini skirts and hair adorned by white bows, the Indianapolis crowd counted down from 10 along with the digital clock. Flickering lights resembled camera flashes, and the fog looked black against the dark background. As the drums became more intense, Madison Beer ascended the steps to the stage platform in a short navy blue dress with sparkly ruffles at the end. The crowd was already in awe of her as she started ‘Home To Another One.’ The semi-circle screen sent us traveling through a galaxy with her in the center. “Sing!” shouted Madison. “Say you hate me!” echoed the room. From here on out, the visuals accompanying each song took us all to another world.
During ‘17,’ flowers danced on the ceiling as Madison threw roses out into the crowd one by one. A teal vinyl was spinning on the screen with Madison Beer and ‘Silence Between Songs’ inscribed in bold black lettering. The vinyl stopped when the instrumentation paused, and resumed when she started to sing again. As she sat on the steps, they pulsed blue as the audience was taken through various walks of nature: the forest, an open field, and a winter wonderland. “I envy the leaves // That grow on trees // They’re all so carefree,” sings Madison. She made sure to include ‘Ryder’ on the setlist because it is close to her heart, and is her favorite song off of her new album. The song is dedicated to her younger brother, and the home videos and childhood pictures of them shown on the screen was a heartwarming touch.
With the visuals in tow, Madison’s vocals were exquisite and effortless throughout all 23 songs on the setlist. The vibrato and vocal runs, especially during ‘Sweet Relief,’ had fans speechless. Her voice control during ‘Selfish’ brought the performance to a whole other level as the crowd sang along to every word. The confidence she illustrated with each note, and wave of her hand was noteworthy. With the wind in her hair, Madison did a high kick during ‘Stained Glass’ to add to the mix. Aside from the psychedelic rock-inspired dream pop tracks from her recent album Silence Between Songs, Madison performed more upbeat ones towards the end of the set. She wore a fan’s pink cowboy hat as she sang ‘BOYSHIT,’ and the crowd cam quickly scanned the front row. She showed a different side to her artistry with her newest single ‘Make You Mine.’ It had a touch of EDM, and the audience embraced it with open arms as they jumped in sync with the kick drum.
Madison can now check ‘first performance in Indianapolis’ off of her list. It was clear she enjoyed her time spent in the city with the warm sunshine and blue skies, and complementing fans’ outfits at the show. Madison is an incredible vocalist with her high ability to convey emotion with every note. The performance as a whole was very theatrical, and heavily focused on the deliverance of her vocals. Madison Beer still has our heads spinnin well after the curtain closed on the eventful evening.
The Egyptian Room of Old Natonal Centre in Indianapolis, IN on May 1, 2024
Concert photo by Kristen Jan Wong
