Soft, blue lights dimly lit the stage, as the background music of the venue softened to a silence. A bassist, keyboardist, and drummer lined the back third of the stage. They began with an instrumental, but a front-woman was nowhere to be found. That was until Jenevieve made her grand entrance, sauntering down the winding staircase of Subterranean in Chicago. Effortlessly, she made her way to the front of the stage. For the entire performance, she didn’t waste an inch of it.
She began with “Crysalis,” and the blue light only lit her shadow. The best way to describe Jenevieve’s energy on the stage is ethereal. Her music transported the crowd into momentary bliss.
Purples and pinks lit her fully for the next song, “Head Over Heels.” The sound of the synthesizers felt like butterflies. The aesthetics of Jenevieve’s set design and fashion perfectly complimented her style of music.
Jenevieve wore a black leather jacket, an orange and blue iridescent top, baggy flare jeans and sneakers. A few belts and chains glimmered in the backlights. Her band also knew how to dress. The bassist wore a pink jacket with flare jeans, and he had hair like Jimi Hendrix. Her keyboardist wore round glasses, a snapback and a fitted jacket. It was as if the groove of the 1970’s met Y2K street style.
Chicago was the 8th stop for Jenevieve on her CRYSALIS tour. Fans packed Subterranean in Chicago, and they knew every word to her songs.
Yellow backlights lit the iconic shadow of Jenevieve when she sang “Naive.” Pink and purple lights illuminated the rest of her. She danced around the stage like sunshine.
“I’m not yours tonight / can’t take me home tonight / baby you’re so naive.”
Subterranean, located in the heart of Wicker Park, is an incredibly intimate venue, whether the performer wants it to be or not. The stage is narrow, only 3 stairs and a stanchion separate the stage from the GA Floor. Jenevieve used this intimacy to her advantage perfectly.
She talked to her fans as if they were up on the stage with her. She stopped to take a sip of water, and someone from the crowd yelled “Fuck yeah water!”
“Fuck yeah,” she responded.
I met someone in the crowd who was there for his first concert. He watched the show from the front left row of people, and he was a mega-fan of hers. I told him this was the best possible place for him to experience a concert for the first time.
CRYSALIS is a passionate album. It’s magical, it’s steamy, it’s uniquely itself. It feels like what falling in love is like.
That is exactly what happened this particular Thursday night. Mid-show, someone got down on one knee and proposed to their partner. Jenevieve kissed the ring on the finger of the lucky person. The rest of the night, they swayed back and forth, singing every lyric to her songs, looking each other deep in the eyes.
“You wanna go to heaven really quick?” she asked the audience, before singing “Hvn High”.
“I’m so into you / you’re my type,” she sang.
Jenevieve made her way through almost the entirety of CRYSALIS, and even threw in some singles off her debut album, Division.
Released in 2021, Division is what put Jenevieve on the radar of major record labels and media outlets. Her biggest hit, “Baby Powder,” which boasts 175 million global streams, was yet to be heard by the crowd.
After “Hvn High,” the lights dimmed.
“If you want me to do one more song you gotta scream a lot,” she said, exiting the stage non-chalantly.
After about a solid 3 minutes of encore chants, “Baby Powder” was played; a duet between Jenevieve and her fans. “Baby Powder” is sexy. A harmonious blend of synths and bass, mixed with lyrics that contradict each other.
“You’re everything I’d ever want / You’re everything I’d never want,” she sings.
She almost didn’t need to sing it, as her fans knew all the words.
On the way out, fans aged 21+ flooded into Estelle’s next door, making a perfect Chicago night.
Stream CRYSALIS on Spotify & Apple Music here.
Keep up with Jenevieve on Instagram, and catch The CRYSALIS Tour as it continues on through November 19.
Crave Music Magazine 