On December 16th, 2024, Katie Gavan took to the stage from her album, What a Relief. As a songwriter and a member of the band MUNA, Katie has been delivering iconic songs for years, but this album signified her debut as a solo artist. Unlike the band’s usual upbeat numbers, Katie’s songs were slower, representing some personal and introspective life experiences, accompanied by her guitar.

Katie opened the show with ‘Today’, instantly setting the mood for the rest of the show. As her guitar strummed and she sang, the crowd instantly sat in comfortable silence. Drinking in the lyrics, members of the audience began to hold on to their loved ones, listening to a song about realizing after a long time that freedom doesn’t have to be lonely.

One of my favourite moments/songs from the record is “As Good as it Gets,” a devastatingly romantic song. The song talks about settling in a long-term relationship and the very mundane aspect of that. As soon as Katie started with the song, people released their excitement and I slowly started to realize how much the song meant to other people as it did me.

Other than Katie’s lyricism, voice and instrumental skills, one of her underrated talents is her crowd engagement. As soon as the show started, she went from one corner of the stage to the other, with a strawberry-painted kettle pouring the contents into the matching mugs. This moment made the audience laugh and full of joy, because of its unexpected nature. Between songs, Katie would make jokes and talk with audience members, like she knew us individually. It takes a certain kind of talent, to sing devastating lyrics and make us laugh and feel joy in the same 1 - 2 hours.

Overall, this show was a beautiful depiction of self-introspection and how love can take different forms.

Article and Photo Gallery by Omolegho Akhibi