The Grace has been home to many legends over the years; The Killers, Mumford & Sons, Wolf Alice and more, all artists that demonstrated talent, determination and authenticity at an early age. Bostonian, 24 year old Lily Fitts was no exception to these traits as she took the stage last Thursday night.
I entered the venue with a semi-permanent The Grace stamp branding me as one of the lucky 150 people who managed to obtain a ticket to Fitts’s sold-out gig. A guitarist and drummer jumped on stage beaming out at the plethora of different audience members; many American accents, couples, groups of friends.
As the music rose, the main act revealed herself. Lily Fitts is a girl-next-door type, standing proud with perfectly curled hair and a conservative yet seductive black two piece — the next hour and a half was riddle with country twang, sassy attitude and pure, raw honesty. There was no ego on stage or crazy special effects, Fitts stood like a natural, sharing her weapon of choice (an acoustic guitar) as she opened with power. ‘I Don’t Owe You S***’ began and the crowd became co-authors of the story, chosing their antagonist and belting out ‘You’re a cheat, you’re a fake‘ with the same passion as Fitts herself.
The crowd was then let in on a “little secret” that this was Fitts’s debut headline show which made the night all that more special. Time was taken to introduce the audience to her recently released album Getting By, a collection of 10 songs which pave a journey of heartbreak, rock-bottom and resurrection. Standing like an army, every word was sung to ‘Lose You Now’, the crowd chanting “But I’ll take the higher road and I’ll save you from yourself / If it means there’s something left of me to love for someone else” with as much power and pain as Fitts.
‘Some Kind of Evil’ was a key moment in the show. “If you can’t have me now then no one else can,” was filled with fire, the room felt like a collection of friends supporting Fitts through the worst break-up in the world. I then felt a blast of love sent towards the stage as Fitts ad-libbed “newsflash I wrote a whole album” during the bridge. Fitts is proof that revenge is best served on a platter filled with success — wallowing is allowed, but its what you do with the wallowing that represents who you are, and Fitts is a soldier that clearly won the battle.
When singing ‘Buying Time’ she continued to ad-lib, “I quit smoking“, queue wink and “well I tried” — her personality shone in every interaction with the crowd, reminiscent of Kacey Musgraves. Fitts has a wonderful habit of accentuating lyrics that she wants to stand out for instance in ‘Brown Eyed Baby’, “Tell yourself life’s a b**** and so am I!” was clearly spoken to us with facial expressions that communicated the message with a strong motive.
Fitts is reclaiming her voice and refusing to let the person who wronged her narrate the story. It’s beautiful, powerful and refreshing, she doesn’t sugar-coat her anxiety or pain, she very frankly and sometimes brutally tells audiences how it felt to be hurt. Fitts grasps the ears of people that want a cathartic listen, allowing them to reflect on their own trauma and empower them further. This was explained comfortably when introducing ‘Getting By’, a song she wrote whilst sitting on her porch when “sometimes getting up in the morning is the best you can do…I’ve been there too”.
Fitts threw in another treat giving the audience her rendition of ‘Stick Season’ by Noah Kahan mentioning that the following day she was opening for him at British Summer Time in Hyde Park. The ending was powerful, Fitts’s first ever release ‘Hurts Like Hell’ left the room satisfied, exhausted and invigorated all at the same time.
Lily Fitts looks like a gift wrapped neatly in a bow but when she strums her guitar she enlightens a crowd with humorous, witty one liners reflecting self-sabotage, sarcastic lyrics highlighting self-doubt and brutal phrases that signify toxic relationships. Partner all this with a beautiful indie-folk voice and professional songwriting ability and a crowd with unrelenting, unconditional support and you have yourself Lily Fitts’s debut headline at The Grace.
