Preaching should be Lizzo’s side hustle. In her performance for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert – or in the singer’s words: Tiny-Ass Desk Concert – Lizzo gave a sermon on love, growth, and being fabulous. From her first “Tiny-Ass Desk” callout that became a running joke, she had the audience in the palm of her hand. Unlike most performances of the concert series, this started with “Amens”, then straight into that wail-of-a-note in “Cuz I Love You.” Looking like a highlighter, Lizzo was head-to-toe orange in a sweater dress and spiky earrings. She was the brightest thing at that tiny-ass desk, both in attire and personality.
Starting out with such a belty song, I wondered how the audio engineers managed to avoid peaking – did she wail over and over until they found the perfect level? And boy did she continue wailing and squalling, dragging each “love you” out of her like she was exorcising her heartbreak. But even in those wrenching moments, Lizzo takes time out to hold on the operatic high notes to give the audience something to cheer, and pause between verses to steel herself – and the listeners – for the climax.
Although Lizzo’s performances are usually high-concept, bar-nothing and elaborate, the limits of the tiny-ass desk only enhanced her presence. In fact, the best parts of the performance were around the songs, and not necessarily the songs themselves. Lizzo built up a bond and rapport with the audience in only a few seconds; they would have done anything. “Truth Hurts” got all the white girls jamming. In a smooth-jazz rendition of “Juice,” Lizzo whipped out a flute solo that would make Grover Washington, Jr. proud. A cry out in the audience turned Lizzo’s head, “Even the baby has a testimony! Amen!”
Every song came with a sermon. “Ni**as ain’t shit sometimes…and all the gender non-conforming genders in between, you can all be ain’t shit, too,” she admonished before “Truth Hurts.” She’s bringing everyone under the umbrella in mutual frustration with love. Other pearls of wisdom:
“I’m fuck boy free ya’ll…It’s an amazing place to be when you’re free.”
“I’m so grateful I don’t feel the way I felt when I wrote truth hurts. I feel so juicy!”
And the classic, “Love is love!”
It’s a marker of true mastery for a singer to be able to enchant an audience in daylight behind a tiny-ass desk in an open-floor plan office space. The power and magnetism of Lizzo’s music, voice and personality means she can take on any venue.