I always used to be afraid of cemeteries. I blame modern society—and maybe the Gothic Revival—for turning a place of reverence into one where we imagine ghostly apparitions lurk around every corner. While that may be the case for some of us, fear obviously wasn’t a factor for Suki Waterhouse on the second stop of her Loveland Tour. In support of her third studio album, the indie pop artist gathered a crowd at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, breathing life back into a place that’s anything but.
If you were there early, you might have caught opening act and fellow bedroom-pop purveyor Charlotte Lawrence, and if you were there extra early, you might’ve stretched your picnic blanket out just a few feet from the front. Strung in billowy curtains, aflush with red glow with a shiny, anatomically correct heart at its center, the stage was set: sexy, slightly love-sick, fearless and fiery.
One thing about Suki Waterhouse: she knows how to make an entrance. She floated on stage in a see-through robe that grazed the stage floor—baring mid-drift in a custom silk set that read “Let’s Play.” She looked killer, and the arrows stuck all around the set were really the nail in the coffin for a concert in the middle of a cemetery. “It’s such an amazing place to go for a concert,” she later said. “You’re all making my dream come true.”
She brought the energy from the start. The indie singer and Daisy Jones & The Six star (she played keyboardist Karen Sirko) wasted no time diving into some of her biggest hits like “OMG” and “Tiny Raisin,” to which the crowd echoed back: “That’s my man, hot damn/ We gonna break up, make up/ Do it all over again, fuck yeah.”
Suki can really sing, too—not to mention she’s also an ace on the keys. “She sounds just like she does in her songs,” my friend, Nicole, turned to me and said, and I shook my head in agreement. Backed by an incredible team of musicians, that was all that was really needed: no set changes, no special effects—save for a very smoky fog machine—and only one outfit change on Waterhouse’s part, further proof that sheer talent is the true driver.
That became especially clear when Waterhouse eased into one of her top-streaming ballads, “Good Looking,” in which she was surrounded by, fittingly enough, a very good-looking band. Keys, electric, even sax were eye candy—along with Ms. Waterhouse herself, whose curtain-banged boho shag blew effortlessly in the wind machine. “Play casino halls on one of my eyeballs/ Roll the dice on my thighs/ You stopped for breath, and I sped up/Just to impress you,” she sang breathily.
There was definitely an overarching sensual theme to the evening, especially as she transitioned into the songs from her latest album, Loveland. But it really worked. It didn’t feel forced as she thrashed and rolled across the stage in barely-there costuming and belted lyrics about lust and longing. Yet pop-driven melodies like “Back in Love” broke the trance and brought the spotlight back onto her audience of, I might add, very well-mannered fans—waving their arms in perfect synchronicity: no pushing, moshing or beer-spilling in sight.
In the fog of what could be described as L.A.’s marine layer—or joints that all simultaneously lit up as the concert came to a close, Waterhouse did what any performer does at least a few times in their career: came to an abrupt “pause,” claiming it was the end of the concert, while awaiting the chant of “encore!” A few minutes later, she headed out on stage with big news. Her very own neighbor, friend and fellow “Weirdo” Beck would be joining her for the last serenade. Hand in hand, the two softly traded the lines, “Baby, till then, I’m lettin’ you know/ I’m missin’ my favorite weirdo,” an unexpected, yet perfect wrap-up to a phenomenal show.
As the sea of fans turned to leave, Suki bid one last goodbye and an ever-so-thoughtful “Get home safe!” which, as we all might have actually needed as we walked the bone-chilling journey through the cemetery back to our cars. Or not. After all, we were surrounded by late Hollywood legends—Judy Garland, for one, as Waterhouse had reminded us. Either way, we left with a renewed appreciation for the land of the living: a place where we warm-bodied folk can sing, dance, down bottles of cheap Chardonnay and remember that we only get one shot at it, so live it with love.
