NOTE: All photos are copyright of Howard Shiau Photography 2025
Arizona pop singer/songwriter UPSAHL (AKA Taylor Cameron Upsahl) has evolved quickly over the ten years of her young career. It’s odd to say young career and ten years in the same breath but that’s because she released her first EP (as Taylor Upsahl) at the tender age of fourteen!! Fast forward to 2024 and while she’s released only one LP, 2021’s “Lady Jesus”, she has been releasing singles and EP’s non-stop as well as writing music for other pop artists. Meanwhile, she’s been touring non-stop since the end of the pandemic, honing her look and live performances. In the midst of her Melt Me Down Tour across North America, UPSAHL stopped at the Rec Room in Buffalo for a Saturday night party!
The first opener of the night was Zoe Ko, a pop singer from New York City. Her boundless energy was infectious and she had the audience jumping and dancing to every song! She strikes me as a modern day Lily Allen with her tongue-in-cheek lyrics that speaks so well to current day teens. She even had a song dedicated to her bullies called “Kiss My (Ah)”, complete with matching undies as Ko was kind enough to show the whole crowd! The biggest sing-a-long was probably for her cover of Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl”. It was quite the fun set and an amazing way to start the party!
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Next up was Conor Bvrns (AKA Conor Burns but of course that’s an extremely common name) from Palo Alto. It seems he was diagnosed at a young age with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) but that’s probably been covered endlessly in other publications. Either way, it doesn’t seem to have affected him musically because his music and vocals are spot on. Oddly enough, it took a minute for the audience to get into his vibe but that wasn’t long lived. If possible, his energy was even higher than Zoe Ko’s, with him bounding around the stage, jumping off the drum kit and the speakers. He rocked out so hard that, at one point, he fell crashing into the drum kit…and kept singing!! He just released his latest single “Always the Same” the day before the show so check him out on your favorite streaming service!
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The party really got going when UPSAHL took the stage, with her slinky outfit and oversized puffer jacker accented by the bright colorful stage lights, as the strains of “Tears on the Dancefloor” reached out to the fans. It’s not clear to me how she wasn’t sweating to death with the coat on and bright lights shining down but she managed to stay and look cool. THIS is a pop star! The only thing I can really say is that this truly felt like we were in a club, with everyone dancing and singing. UPSAHL played a nice long set and even brought her sister on stage with her to do an acoustic duet. BTW, her sister has a lovely voice as well. She also did a great cover of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Heads Will Roll”, which had the crowd even more amped! Suffice to say even the biggest fans were satisfied by night’s end. Since UPSAHL has been releasing EP’s every year, I’m waiting to see if she’ll surprise everyone with just three more months left in 2024. She has a few more shows stateside before she heads overseas for a tour of the UK/EU so catch her while you can!
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