Hearts were aglow at the Warfield on Wednesday night where Natalie Mering, aka Weyes Blood, took the stage for her “In Holy Flux: Unleashed Tour.” As the venue lights dimmed, gothic candelabras glowed on stage.
Draped in a white, billowing gown, Mering floated across the stage, opening the night with “It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody.” A psalm for the isolating, pandemic-induced loneliness many have felt, Mering fosters unity through a healing, musical embrace that holds you when the world feels like it’s falling apart.
In the silence following the end of the song, cries of “Mother!” filled the air. Fans’ comparisons are not far off; Natalie has taken on a degree of religiosity in their eyes. A Mary Magdalene of sorts, Mering’s voice has an anointing quality. Having seen the artist live for the second time in San Francisco, I can attest to the baptismal experience of hearing her folk-infused, siren songs in person. Her music has been a beacon of hope and perseverance for me and many other “children of the empire.” Ballads like “Wild Times” and “A Lot’s Gonna Change” serve as gospels to the impermanence of life, the uncertainty that surrounds us, and the freedom that comes with accepting the things we cannot change.
Raised in a Pentecostal family, Weyes Blood’s music maintains this architecture for worship and holiness within her songs’ string and vocal arrangements. Despite her distance from organized religion, her orchestral undertones and lush soundscapes are fit for a cathedral.
“God Turn Me Into a Flower” christened the audience with such softness and choral energy. Visuals by esteemed documentarian Adam Curtis projected on-screen snippets of life’s most devastating and joyous moments: explosions, weddings, protests, and birthday parties juxtaposed with the angelic, soft, supple experience of becoming a flower that Merring yearns for. Such capacity to haunt and soothe makes Weyes Blood’s music so uniquely sacred.
Between her emotionally poignant, tear-jerking songs, Mering punctuated the set with moments of levity—twirling and whirling across the stage, throwing flowers to the audience, and taking breaks between songs to sift through the DVDs her fans had thrown on stage. “This is an incredible collection, San Francisco. Thank you so much,” she remarked, noting it was the most DVDs she’d ever received at a show.
She ended the night with the cinematic masterpiece “Movies,” a majestic, synth-heavy ballad about the empty promises and illusions fed to us by the silver screen. Her white, iridescent dress glistened under an overhead water projection, culminating the night in a spectacle of heavenly, celestial imagery.
Written by Dorothy Eck
Photos by Dorothy Eck