In support of her debut album, Love and Compromise, Mahalia stopped by the Hawthorne Theatre on September 29. The Hawthorne seemed like a perfect venue for this show, with no barriers, just the fans and Mahalia. Fans were able to stand right up against the stage, and this made the show feel very intimate. Throughout her set, fans could be heard yelling to Mahalia. She greeted nearly every shout with a warm smile and a response.
Another thing that made this show so different, and more of an experience than a concert, was all the stories and quick-witted decisions made by Mahalia. There was a portion of the set where she told her band to stop playing, and she burst into three songs accompanied only by her guitar and the fans screaming every lyric. This seemed completely unplanned by the looks on her bandmates’ faces, and it showed Mahalia is quick to respond to crowd energy, able to make changes to her set based on what she believes the crowd will enjoy.
Before this show, Mahalia flew under my radar, and I wasn’t too familiar with her music. After this show, she has definitely gained a new fan.The energy she radiated and the looks on the crowd’s faces each time she interacted with them was magical.
