Em Beihold’s Maybe Life is Good Tour: Show-Recap
Em Beihold’s Maybe Life is Good Tour: Show-Recap
By Kelly Carciente
I arrived at the Fairmount Theatre in Montreal on March 8th just in time to catch a glimpse of Em Beihold’s soundcheck, fans huddling up by the front of the stage. When walking in, I caught the singer performing a stripped-down cover of Maggie Rogers’ “Light On,” with her delicate voice accompanied by harmonies from one of her crew members. The intimate nature of the venue prompted Beihold to share conversations with her fans, some of whom waited in line in the winter cold since 11am. I was fortunate enough to speak with Beihold in this brief moment before doors opened and before she had to set off backstage. While I attempted not to pry, I couldn’t help but ask her about her time in the city. Luckily our reputation is still intact.
Dozens of minutes went by before doors opened and fans trickled into the venue. From friendship-bracelet sharing to multiple fan projects organized, Beihold clearly fosters a friendly and inviting environment, a constant theme for the night.
Em Beihold, the 25-year-old singer-songwriter and musician, reached the midway point in her first ever headlining North American tour, “Maybe Life Is Good Tour,” named after her most recent single. The singer has gained accolades for her numerous singles reaching high peaks on the charts and raking up billions of streams across music platforms. With millions of fans by her side, she has even achieved the #1 spot on the Billboard Emerging Artists Chart from her authentic interpretations of life and the complicated emotions that come with it, masked by her bright pop sound and strong voice. This tour is a milestone for Beihold as she recalls only touring for thirteen straight shows at most at a time. She is eager to complete double the shows this time around. While she paid her dues opening for a variety of artists like King Princess and Stephen Sanchez, she was also welcomed as the opening act for Lewis Capaldi last year, playing a show in Laval, QC as well.
The tone was set for the night with the electrifying opener, Madelline, or as she calls herself: “Madelline with two Ls.” Her colourful, energizing set, accompanied by her bassist and keyboardist, confirmed a massive pop star in the making. Think, Sabrina Carpenter meets MARINA. You may be familiar with her single, “dopamine,” which garnered streams through TikTok and Reels.
Soon, Beihold took to stage, opening with her 2023 anthem, “Roller Coasters Make Me Sad,” eliciting a sea of excitement. Beihold’s set consisted of her numerous accomplished singles along with her 2022 EP Egg in the Backseat.
Beihold is an avid advocate for mental health and reducing the stigma surrounding it. She has spent a lot of time in her career working on her own mental health and hopes others feel comfortable to do the same. The second song played, titled “12345,” reflects on what she describes as her “late night existence,” characterizing what I can imagine as anxiety. Her advocacy does not end there, though. She has also partnered with Active Minds, an organization aiming to provide resources for young adults and reduce stigma surrounding mental health, where $1 of each ticket sale would serve as a donation to the organization.
Sat at her keyboard, Beihold took a moment to share an anecdote about her route to achieving her dreams. The Los Angeles native believed the key to success would be auditioning and winning singing reality shows, so after rejection from American Idol, America’s Got Talent, and The Voice (three times), Beihold began to believe the closest she would ever get to achieving her dream would be getting a job as a production assistant for The Voice. But, three days before that job began, the singer released her massive single, “Groundhog Day,” earning her a record deal with Republic Records, the same record label she would have signed with had she won the actual competition. The single went on to take over TikTok, earning 24 million streams on Spotify.
Throughout the show, Beihold did not shy away from playing some of her most beloved, acclaimed tracks, such as her 2020 viral single “City of Angels.” She also played some of her most fan-favourite songs from her EP, such as “Too Precious," “Goo,” and the title track, “Egg in the Backseat.” The songwriter also invited one of her crew members, Leah, to sing a rendition of her record-breaking duet version of Stephen Sanchez’ “Until I Found You.” Beihold explained that, when she was recently on Sanchez’ European tour, she instantly hit it off with Leah, “stealing her” from her duet partner’s touring crew.
Beihold crafted the setlist in a way that created a cohesive balance between some of her most known tracks, to some of her unreleased or lesser-known songs. She went on to perform a new, unreleased ironically sonically uplifting song titled “Extraordinary,” based on the worry about all the lives and experiences she would never be able to live through. She conducted the crowd through some backing vocals for her unreleased crowd-favourite “Shiny New Things.” The singer also played what she described as her father’s favourite terribly underrated unreleased tracks—and dare I say my favourite as well—titled “Lottery,” a delicate piano melody accompanying a delicate voice that soon erupts into an intense, drum and bass-filled percussion.
Performance and music aside, one of the memorable moments in the show was Beihold’s attempt to stall the audience when walking off to resolve a coughing fit, something she developed while on tour. Her band amusingly played the Nintendo Mii music as she walked off for a brief minute. I think this moment made it apparent to me that she’s one for her wit and does not take herself too seriously despite her lyrics’ introspection and existentialism.
Another memorable moment was when Beihold performed her recent single, “Maybe Life Is Good,” where she invited a fan named Vanessa on stage to dance with her as it was her 19th birthday. The single touches on uplifting affirmations and encouraging optimism, a positive sentiment projected into the audience. I ended up speaking with the elated fan after the show, the same fan who organized the fan projects and who received a massive hug from the artist during soundcheck.
The night ended a little too quickly for my liking with one of her biggest singles yet, “Numb Little Bug,” receiving nearly half a billion streams and reaching the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. After many goodbyes, Beihold and her band left the stage and the house lights came back on.
From an intimate and personal atmosphere to a night of fun music, Em Beihold’s “Maybe Life Is Good Tour,” is one you do not want to miss. Try to catch her at some of the remaining shows on her tour, and keep an eye out for more from the singer soon!
