The Sound of Feminine Rage: Paris Paloma’s Fatal Flaw Tour
Since her viral hit song “labour” perfectly encapsulated feminine rage and empowerment in the current state of the world, Paris Paloma has become something of an icon of her generation. Pairing with the release of her album, The Fatal Flaw, the British Singer-Songwriter kicked off her tour of the same name on September 20th, in Phoenix, AZ. As stop number two of her tour, she stopped by Los Angeles’ Ford Amphitheater, lighting up the night with her powerful and emotional vocals.
Starting the night was Susannah Joffe, a fellow Singer-Songwriter. Joffe kicked the show off with her soft yet strong vocals, mesmerizing the crowd and lifting the energy before Paris Paloma’s set. She performed songs such as “Texas Baby” and “Happiness Is a Myth,” the latter of which was especially welcomed by the audience. After a memorable thirty-minute set, Susannah bid the crowd farewell, and it was only a matter of minutes before the headliner of the evening would take the stage.
As the music and lights both turned off, a single spotlight glimmered as it shined towards stage left. Slowly, Paris Paloma herself confidently strutted onstage in a silky, flowy dress. She exuded femininity and confidence right from the beginning, greating the crowd before performing “Stem the Flow” and “drywall.” After taking a few minutes to formally greet the crowd and introduce herself, she launched into the next track—”Miyazaki.” This song, she described, is one that talks about the dangers and disappointment that comes from the use of generative AI, mentioning how it takes away creativity and how it harms the world. The title itself is an homage to that message as well, calling to Japanese artist, animator, and legend Hayao Miyazaki and his very public admonition of the usage of AI for art.
Continuing on, Paloma performed a mix of newer and older tracks with “Rothko,” “Bleeding Part of Me,” “as good a reason,” and “Pre-Raphaelite.” With each song, the audience grew louder as they sang along with each word.
Taking a few moments to address a very real modern issue, Paloma sat down to talk about the unrealistic expectations set by society for young women and their bodies before performing the next song. “It’s getting scary what has become normal in terms of looks in a normal body, and I am tired of talking about my body,” she began. “I’m tired of people talking about my body, and I’m tired of it being the first weapon that misogynistic men reach for when they want to be normal. They never unpick my argument, they just call out the fact that I have arm hair. I just wrote this track with the intention of it being something that people could move to for five minutes and feel safe and free and joyful in their body, just as it is right now, without changing it, without paying any money to have anything done to it. Because you don’t need to do anything in order to be worthy of walking on this Earth.” This beautiful speech led to “Good Girl,” a performance that pulled tears and sobs from members of the audience. Especially as the final bridge hit and fans took that moment of safety and liberation to dance along, it was a moment of connection, and a perfect representation of Paris Paloma as an artist.
Another moment that highlighted Paloma’s artistry was her performance of “Pyrrhus (you go where I cannot).” The crowd cheered and sang along loudly to the lyrics, calling out its important message and intention. “I wrote this song about the grief of watching gentle, kind, and perfect young boys that you knew get seduced by the patriarchy, by war, and by toxic masculinity,” the Singer-Songwriter shared. “In some ways, it’s ancient, but in some ways, it is very real.” A similar story was told before the performance of “Good Boy,” a song full of bold imagery. “I wrote this song about a certain type of boy that I have got in my comment sections,” Paloma began explaining. “They’re like diligent little good boys defending poor old billionaires like their life depends on it. I just wanted so desperately to say to him, “you have so much more in common with me than you do with any of those guys. All the things that men list in my comment sections to devalue my opinion are things like men have a loneliness epidemic, men have poor mental health, and men get drafted to the war. You’re listing things that are a product of patriarchy!”
Performing several other tracks including “the fruits,” another formative song for Paloma’s career, and “I Cry in Front of Paintings,” the last song of the night—the life-changing track—was saved for the encore. As Paris Paloma marched back on stage to a roaring drum beat, the audience that had sat down for a quick break quickly shot up, ready to scream and let their suppressed rage out together.
From start to finish, each person in the audience sang along to “labour,” as if it was a joint performance rather than one of a soloist on stage alone. The hum of the crowd together with the live band and the singer’s strong, emotional voice resonated throughout the outdoor amphitheater, echoing in the air like the words were being cast out towards the world for everyone to hear and understand. With the final chants of those famous lyrics in the song’s last bridge, both the singer and her fans gave it their all, and Paris Paloma exited the stage with a deep bow.
The Fatal Flaw Tour was many things. It was an homage to femininity and being a woman, highlighting its struggles, but also its beauty. It also highlighted some of society’s fatal flaws—toxic masculinity, patriarchy, self-love and harmful representations within popularized media, and billionaires and capitalism, to name a few. But most importantly, it was a safe space for fans to be themselves, to enjoy being in their own skin, and to grieve, to celebrate, and to simply be. It was somewhere fans could simply exist and live in the moment—something simple, yet rare and ever so precious in today’s world.
