NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
Indie pop sensation Clairo (aka Claire Elizabeth Cottrill) has been making music since she was 13 and it only took five years to introduce herself to the world when one of her songs “Pretty Girl” went viral. With her hit debut record “Diary 00” and successful tours in 2018 and 2019 (who jumps all the way to a large venue like Brooklyn Steel for their second tour?!?!), only the pandemic could slow her down. But she worked on new music and with her second album “Sling”, she was set to tour the world in 2022!
The line for Clairo at her first of two shows at History in Toronto was incredible. It had wrapped around the whole venue and the back of the line had reached the front of the line. It seemed like every teenage girl in Toronto was here. Yes there were a fair share of guys but it was definitely 95% female.
It didn’t hurt that the opening act was a local favorite, jazzy indie pop artist Jonah Yano. With both a cello and a saxophone in addition to bass guitar, keyboards, drums, and Yano’s guitar, it felt like a jazz jam band! The crowd were certainly fans and Yano acknowledged many straight away. When he first picked up the guitar, holding it by the body where the strap would normally be connected, I thought “well that’s a different way of playing guitar!”. But that was just during the intro. It was interesting to watch him communicate wordlessly with various band members throughout the set. Definitely a conductor directing his band! Yano even brought out Clairo for a duet of a Leonard Cohen song. The reaction, as expected, was insane! Note: Toronto boy Yano was wearing New York Mets jacket! Go Mets!
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I’ve seen a number of acts that have a mostly teenage girl fan base but I’m not sure I’ve seen the devotion and frenzy that I experienced at this show. Besides that long line before the show, I’ve also never seen a merch line that long DURING the performance!! Incredible! Somehow Clairo speaks to the current generation in a way that many other artists don’t. She’s not super sexualized and looks like she could be your high school friend (ok, maybe not since she’s 23). How many girls can relate to “Pretty Girl”? And having come out as bi-sexual, her song “Sofia” was so relatable to LGBTQ teens and became a monster hit!
Having just two records under her belt, her fans were able to hear almost everything she has released. At one point, she played a game of rock paper scissors with a fan to see whether she would play “Flaming Hot Cheetos, which was not originally on the setlist. She lost and admitted she seems to somehow always lose at rock paper scissors and should maybe pick another game. Anyway, she dedicated the song to “Cindy”, the lucky winner! At many points during the show, it felt like a sing-a-long since many fans knew the words to every song. Clairo decided to forego the obligatory encore and played straight through the set. She closed with “Pretty Girl” and “Sofia”, which the crowd joined in as two thousand voices echoed through the venue. How many of those fans will also be at tonight’s show? Based on what I’ve seen, it will be every single one!
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