Wednesday, June 21, 2023, in St. Louis meant a lot of things to a lot of people. To some, it meant the summer solstice with Venus — the planet of love, romance, beauty, and art — shining bright under a perfectly lit crescent moon with Tegan and Sara performing live at The Pageant.
Since 1998, the 42-year-old identical twin duo of Tegan and Sara have been shaping the world with their catchy yet often angsty music and activism. From their start of light punk to a more rounded indie pop/rock to their latest iteration found on their fall 2022 release of Crybaby full of introspection fueled by the pandemic, including “F*cking Up What Matters.”
Their stage was stripped down with their guitarist, bassist, and drummer toward the back with two mics about at the halfway point on stage. Tegan’s mic was more stage right while Sarah’s was more stage left.
And then they sang. And shared stories. And played guitar. And sang some more. And shared more stories. And the crowd loved every single moment of it. No strangers to St. Louis, Tegan told one story she’s reminded of every time they come through St. Louis about a prank they pulled on their tour manager in Memphis, but the realization didn’t hit them until the next day. “I remember walking along this street in St. Louis, hungover and realizing that what we did [the night before] wasn’t a good choice.”
The connection with the audience was sincere, which is a big part of Tegan and Sara’s draw — besides knocking out oodles of memorable music throughout their 25-year career.
Other songs included “Walking With a Ghost” and the touching “You Wouldn’t Like Me.”
Carlie Hanson, the 23-year-old singer/songwriter born in Wisconsin, opened the night with a half-hour acoustic set. On her last night on the Crybaby tour, Hanson joked that she hadn’t been to St. Louis before, although “I smoked a lot of pot so maybe I have.” She performed such songs as “Back in My Arms” and the sweet, simple lilt of “Blueberry Pancakes.”
Fans floated out of the music venue and headed home humming the sounds of Tegan and Sara on a soft summer’s night in the city of St. Louis.
More photos from the concert: https://bit.ly/TeganSara23cz
Tegan and Sara’s setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/tegan-and-sara/2023/the-pageant-st-louis-mo-33a6605d.html
