It was a full body experience, watching Bishop Briggs entertain an audience entraps you completely into her music and creates this out-of-body experience that is her performance.
Soundcheck occurs and her guitarist is playing both acoustic and electric, testing levels with variation chords like a second nature. At times he glances up, asking if there’s enough variation in sound, then he’s handed a microphone to do the same for when Bishop comes out. There’s time and patience that goes into preparing for an event like this, its organized and fluid. Setting up promotional stands for the station, the prize wheel for patrons to come and spin to win merchandise, and of course the live stand where Simon would be broadcasting Bishop Brigg’s interview.
The doors open and the people flood inside, her audience ranged from young children to fully grown adults. The younger ones approach the prize wheel nervous to try their luck, and even more so when they fill out the information to win the meet and greet with Bishop. The look on everyone’s faces as the music plays through the brewery as they waited for food and drinks was relaxed, as though they had all met before in another life.
She comes out for her first interview, fans are in shock smiling ear to ear, Bishop’s expression matches theirs, yet no one runs directly to her. There’s an understanding of personal space, but as she walks past it’s as though she’s walking on air. As more names are called for the meet and greet the crowd gets more excited for their chance to win big.
The Meet and Greet runs before the show and the line of those that want to meet her runs up the staircase, asking my boss I ran down for my chance to meet Bishop and the look right as I made eye contact before the picture was taken I couldn’t contain my excitement. I told her, “Oh my god this is so cool,” her eyes widen and her smile was ear-to-ear, “Oh my god for me too!” It was mere seconds but it meant everything.
Soon she arrives for her set, to fans she thanks them for their ever present love, one even stops the show enough where Bishop tells her she loves her and creates an even deeper connection towards her audience. She performs as though her body is the instrument, jumping around and getting audiences involved. It’s as though the music has possessed her soul and she’s letting it consume her as opposed to fighting to let go. For her song Wild Horses she even improvises the dings that are between her lyrics, the smile that crosses her face invites the audience to join her. She surprised audiences with a song off her new album that hadn’t been performed at all Lyin that features Imagine Dragons, “That was the first time I ever did that song…I never tell people that until after I sing it just so I’m not as nervous.”
Before Dream she talks about it being a song that she wrote after she woke up after a dream that she was in a room of people and they couldn’t hear her scream. Which is evident in the songs lyrics. There’s more in her performance than there is just listening to recordings, in a way there’s soul, there’s anger and passion behind each word, phrase, entirety of the piece.
She sings River and rocks the room, the audience knows the song by heart, I even find myself singing along. Since all she has is her guitarist the audience improvises the drum beats to keep time. It’s as though the song was a classic from everyone’s childhood and they all knew how it went like it had been around forever. She says a million thank yous and leaves the stage, Simon thanks everyone for coming and to stayed tuned for next sessions. The crowd clears as quickly as it entered, those that stayed for a few extra drinks stick around, new friends say goodbyes hoping to one day see eachother again, and the repeated “That was amazing, she’s even better in person” is heard throughout the room.
Ema Fernandez 