On March 5, 2019 I went to see my favorite female artist perform for the first time at the Paradise Rock Club in Allston, Mass. Chelsea Cutler is a 22-year-old artist who grew up in Westport, Connecticut. So she’s right around the corner! Chelsea is currently on her second world tour, which is a huge amount of success in a short time for her. She just performed her first show ever a little over a year ago—and now she’s selling out. With that said, she’s still fairly underrated in my opinion. She doesn’t have songs on the radio yet, but at the rate she’s going it wouldn’t surprise me if she did by the end of the year. Chelsea only started making music when she was 17, so she’s still very new to the music world, however she did sign her first label with Sony Records recently.
With that all said, I’m a huge fan of Cutler. I’ve listened to her since she first toured with Quinn XCII last year and have consistently tried to go to her concerts when she comes around, but each time they sell out before I can get to it. Luckily, this time I got my hands on some tickets of my own, though I did have to repurchase mine. Originally sold for $15, I got my ticket for $30 plus $10 fees (the worst). I didn’t mind, though. The experience was definitely worth it.
Because Chelsea Cutler is still fairly underground, I don’t have any friends that actively listen to her, except one from high school who now lives in Arizona. So, I went alone. There was no way I was missing that, and I’m glad I didn’t! I got there about a half hour before the doors opened, and there was a pretty good amount of people lined outside. The venue fits 1,000 and it was sold out so at least 150-200 people were already there as I arrived. I was able to get second row when I first arrived, my height I used to my advantage. No one really minds sharing their space with a five-foot-tall girl who’s alone. You would barely even notice I was there.
The opening act was Anthony Russo, a young guy I’ve never heard of from California. He was a good performer, despite how young he seemed (I guessed around 17). However, I found myself dancing to his songs and getting really into it! Plus, his energy and charisma kept the crowd’s eyes and attention.
When Chelsea came out, the crowd went wild. I have never heard so many people give a standing ovation for just the opening song. It was like every person in the room was giving her a hug and saying I love you, all at once. It was pretty beautiful to be a part of. I had googled Chelsea’s setlist before the show so I knew which of my favorite songs would be played, and I was really happy to see such a long setlist—over 20 songs. Chelsea kept the crowd dancing and singing all night long. If she looked away from the mic to take a breath, the crowd made up for the lyric she missed. We knew and sung along to every single word.
Chelsea had a drummer and a pianist playing behind her, with strings of roses going across the whole stage, a nod to her album “Sleeping with Roses II.” When the music had a certain tune break, Chelsea hit a key on some sort of either computer or mixing station where she would create the music herself in real time. She seemed like a super sweet, genuine, and kind person. She really brought the stage to life, and everyone I talked to seemed to feel the exact same way about her: positive she was going to make a big break one day. As we all stood in a bar with a capacity of 1,000, we knew we would see her in TD Garden one day.