There’s a word Olivia Dean consistently called to mind throughout her headlining performance at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Aug. 14 — present. The show was the first of four consecutive sold-out nights the British singer-songwriter has scheduled at the venue this weekend. She didn’t seem to be thinking too much about the other three, or really anything beyond that exact moment. Dean was astoundingly present.
It’s the most apt descriptor for the manner in which she commanded the room for nearly two full hours with a set spanning 24 songs. “I’m feeling emotional and grateful and so present with you this evening, New York,” Dean told the audience. It was early in the night and she just finished introducing the show with an opening run of “The Art of Loving,” “Nice to Each Other,” and “Lady Lady.” A brief encapsulation of how love lingers. A madly persuasive plea to live in the moment. A surrender to the inevitability of change. It was the exact order in which the songs appear on her acclaimed second album, The Art of Loving, which shares a title with the tour.
For a moment, it seemed as though the set list might directly mirror the record’s track list. The Art of Loving, after all, is an album best consumed as one whole, indulgent piece. Each track flows so effortlessly into the next it feels sinful to tear them apart. This makes for a dependable and familiar listening experience, but would be far too predictable to support the lessons in love Dean was set on delivering throughout the night. Unlike the fixed order of these songs, life and love are perpetually at the mercy of the present. They’re capable of changing drastically from one moment to the next. Dean knows this because she’s seen it.
“We were here just maybe nine months ago, supporting Sabrina Carpenter, and it’s crazy to be back headlining now,” Dean said, referring to her opening slot on the pop star’s Short n’ Sweet tour. “I’m in awe of how much can happen in such a short space of time.” The non-exhaustive sum of events within this time frame included winning Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards and scoring two Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. She might not have believed it if you’d told her then what awaited her in the future. But watching her on that stage, statuesque in a gold gown, it was impossible to imagine any other outcome.
The Vibe
It’s not easy for an artist to make Madison Square Garden, which has a capacity of about 19,500 during concerts, feel intimate. Well, Dean seems to be pulling off small miracles left and right these days. From nostalgic little touches (using a microphone with a cord, allowing her to toy with it like a torch singer of yesteryear; having her band and backup singers wear sharp black suits and dresses, a nice counterpoint to her shimmering magenta dress) to the elegant, unadorned staging, The Art of Loving Tour has a less-is-more approach. As a result, the audience is focused not on spectacle, but on the physical presence of a phenomenal singer with an excellent live band.
The Voice
“We got good singers in the house tonight, I can hear you,” Dean told the crowd after “Something Inbetween,” one of the arena-wide sing-alongs on Saturday night. She would know. It was abundantly clear during Dean’s 23-song set that her microphone was on, and her rich, laid-back voice was utterly captivating. Heck, even her humming sounded sensational toward the end of “Let Alone the One You Love.”
