Amidst an uncertain political climate, Paris Paloma’s song “labour” has emerged as a powerful anthem for women. Its portrayal of a patriarchal relationship has resonated deeply with listeners, fostering a sense of community through their shared experiences. On March 9, Paris welcomed that community into Boston’s Royale for an enchanting evening on “The Cacophony Tour.”
As that community, which she affectionately refers to as fairies, arrived, they crowded around the merch table to browse the t-shirts, all hand drawn by Paloma herself. After making their selections, they were invited to learn more about the tour’s nonprofit partner Call All Crows, and contribute to or borrow from a Little Free Library, thoughtful touches outlined in a “Tour Guide.”
The night opened with an acoustic performance by sister duo Sarah Julia, setting the stage for Paloma’s arrival. A suspenseful hum filled the venue and fairy lights flickered against hand-painted tapestries as Paloma descended the stairs in a white, skeleton pantsuit, a subtle nod to Phoebe Bridgers. Gripping the microphone, she urged the crowd to turn to their neighbor and introduce themselves, sparking connections that would only deepen as the night unfolded.
Paloma proceeded to serenade the crowd with a 16 song set, which highlighted her debut album “Cacophony.” Included in the set was a performance of Paloma’s favorite song off the album, “bones on the beach,” as well as a stirring rendition of “knitting Ssong” with Sarah Julia. “BoyGenius, you have 7 days to respond,” Paloma joked, referencing Bridger’s GRAMMY award-winning trio.
Between songs, Paloma cultivated a sense of intimacy and camaradierie, through raw honesty. “I sort of had a bit of burnout from songwriting at the end of last year because it was just such a huge year for me,” Paloma admitted, before revealing the inspiration behind a new unreleased song she’s working on. “This is the thing that kind of made it start again because I had something to say, and that’s kind of the purpose songwriting serves for me is giving myself a voice in a time where I otherwise feel voiceless.”
“[The song] expresses a lot of opinions and feelings that I have about what we are currently seeing happen in the world and in this country. Submissive is to be a man subscribing to patriarchy. You know, this higher power being so afraid of what people think of you always, it’s just this really self-contradictory belief system and that’s why I wrote this song,” Paloma added. The crowd hung onto every lyric as Paloma unveiled the song, verse by verse.
Another standout moment was Paloma’s live performance of her song “The Rider.” Last year, Paloma fulfilled a childhood dream and contributed an original song to the soundtrack for “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.” “If I were to actually impress upon you the extent of my obsession with Tolkien and the world of “The Lord of Rings,” it’s incredibly embarrassing,” she confessed, “But I just hope that you know how much it comes across as much as it meant to me to do this song.”
“It was just the most lovely experience — I went to the premiere and cried. I stood next to Ian McKellen for half an hour… just waiting to meet him again. So I need to find him and apologize,” she added with a laugh.
Paloma closed the night with an encore, performing her song “LABOUR – the cacophony,” with the crowd chanting back the empowering lyrics: “It’s not an act of love if you make her, You make me do too much labour.”
As Paloma left the stage, the crowd was left spellbound by her performance and liberated by her powerful words. Following the performance, a crowd of strangers, now bonded through a much more joyous experience, joined hands and jubilantly waltzed until security cleared the floor.
Purchase tickets to the “The Cacophony Tour” here.
