FLETCHER searches for the antidote in Minneapolis
Photos and review by Rebecca Ackerman
The Fillmore in Minneapolis was packed for the opening night of Fletcher’s In Search Of The Antidote Tour with support from Maude Latour. The line to enter went around the block, and the venue was packed before Latour even took the stage. Fans were lined up through the venue for merchandise and proudly sporting it seconds after buying it.
Maude Latour opened the show in a sparkly jersey with a star in the center of it and fishnet tights. With her name in rainbow letters on a curtain behind her, fans could easily identify her and look her up after her set if they didn't know who she was. Coming off her brand new debut album Sugar Water, Maude Latour has taken 2024 by storm after performing at Lollapalooza, Gov Ball, and soon to be ACL. Her set included songs from the album like “Officially Mine,” “Summer of Love,” and “Cursed Romantics,” among others.
Prior to performing, the alt-pop artist posted on her Instagram asking fans to put their flashlights on for “Cosmic Superstar Girl," and the crowd listened. By the time the song came around, a large number of people put their phone flashlights on for the song.
Latour’s excitement at seeing the crowd was apparent as she blew kisses, waved to fans in the audience, and danced around with a huge smile on her face. She took the time to explain the story behind some of her music, like how “Summer of Love” is about falling in love with her girlfriend at the end of summer.
Laude ended her set with her most streamed song on Spotify and the one that introduced me to Maude Latour, “One More Weekend." Her high energy set was exactly what Minneapolis needed to prepare themselves for Fletcher.
As the lights dimmed, there was a cosmic galaxy displayed on a giant screen curtain in the center of the stage. The galaxy transformed into different visuals from the Antidote album until finally, the curtain dropped and Fletcher and her band were standing right there. Opening the show with a run of “Maybe I Am," "Sting," and “Serial Heartbreaker," Fletcher’s set was off with a bang.
The screen behind Fletcher showed graphics that transformed into different colors, lyrics, and visuals, all telling an additional story and aiding the performance. Having the lyrics show up at certain points gave insight into the lyrics Fletcher wanted the audience to scream and ones that hit the hardest. Plus, it’s always fun to see some of your favorite lyrics projected onto a massive screen. It was a whole visual performance that never left you bored.
Since this was opening night, I went into the show expecting a few errors, screen rendering incorrectly, and some forgotten lyrics or slip-ups. While some of these things did happen, Fletcher was very transparent and let the crowd know these were likely going to happen. She even mentioned how she was prepared if she were to trip over something.
Fletcher’s set touched on the different eras of her career, playing songs from her 2019 EP, you ruined new york city for me, and her previous albums, The S(ex) Tapes and Girl of My Dreams. Her discography travels through different phases of her relationships, and she tied all of that together nicely in this performance, moving fluidly between her latest album and her earlier works.
During “Bitter," Fletcher picked up a video camera, and the feed was being projected on the screen behind her. She ran around on stage, showing off her band as they played guitar, bass, and drums. Doing this was a great way to put a spotlight on her band, who were not only playing with her but dancing along with her all night.
It was obvious that Fletcher missed being onstage and performing. She spent time reading signs and pointed out that she missed reading all the unhinged ones she normally sees at her shows. It felt like she was having a conversation with the crowd. Fletcher appealed to the Minneapolis audience with the mention of going to the popular mini-golf place, Can Can Wonderland, amongst other wild nights she’s had in Minneapolis.
A highlight of the night was the mashup between her song “All Love” and Beyoncé’s “Irreplaceable." “Irreplaceable” is the perfect tie-in with the rest of her music. It represents the importance of self-worth and understanding that the previous relationship can be easily replaced by someone else.
As she thanked the crowd again for being there for her through her Lyme disease diagnosis and all the other ups and downs, she transitioned into singing “Eras of Us” and “Antidote." One final encore included an interlude of “Better Version” before Fletcher stepped back on stage and went straight into “Doing Better." She closed out the night with “Becky’s So Hot."
If the opening night was any indication on how the rest of the tour is going to go, Fletcher has an impressive run of shows ahead of her. Despite a few of the first show jitters, Fletcher puts on a can’t miss performance that will continue to get better as she gets more comfortable with being on stage and performing this set. Clickhere for tickets to Fletcher’s remaining shows.
