Phoenix show was absolutely life-changing.
I saw Florence in concert for the first time last Saturday and... wow. I am still not over it. Quite possibly my favorite concert I have ever been to. She was fucking INCREDIBLE.
I wrote this on another platform a few days ago, and I am going to share it here as well. It gets pretty emotional so be gentle please lol:
I have felt a very strong connection to music my entire life, from the moment 4-year-old me first heard the Spice Girls, to now with my obsession with all things Florence & The Machine. Music has been there through both my highs and my lows.
Losing my pet dog/best friend last year was the first time I ever dealt with grieving a loved one. Everyone who has ever told me that grief and losing someone you love is a tough thing to go through couldn’t have been more right - it was the hardest thing I have ever gone through. And it is still hard, I think about her every day. And I deeply appreciate everyone who reached out and showed my family and I support during that time. But I have definitely been dealing with depression since her passing, and I did not feel like myself at all last summer.
Another thing that has been bothering me lately, and I noticed it a lot last year, more and more women seem to be pandering to the conservative/trad wife/red pill crap. Jessie Murph’s “1965” song, Tate McRae pretending she is American, Sabrina Carpenter’s album cover glamorizing domestic abuse and degradation, and even more problematic picture disc with a graying man rubbing her feet while she is wearing a nightgown, Sydney Sweeney’s… lol where do I begin that girl is a fucking train wreck. It made me think, you know, maybe all I am good for really IS just looking good and having babies. Then last September, something happened.
I was packing for a weekend trip to Edmonton to see Kate Voegele and Tyler Hilton with my husband and a mutual friend of ours, and my husband posted lyrics in our group chat from a Florence & The Machine song that just came out called “One Of The Greats”. The song basically calls out misogyny in the music industry and publications like Rolling Stone, and never feeling like she is good enough compared to her male counterparts. I gave the song a curiosity spin and I was hooked, it was basically everything I wanted to hear from a female artist during Trump’s America. I was obsessed.
I did not like Florence when she first came out. That sentence feels so dirty to say now lol but I thought “Dog Days Are Over” was annoying (I like it now but it's not a fave). After hearing "One Of The Greats", I checked out out the previous single, “Everybody Scream”, and I loved that too. Then I went back and listened to her older stuff, and I was kicking myself wondering why I never noticed before what a FUCKING INCREDIBLE voice she has. Then I started watching her live performances and saw what a great front woman she is, then her music videos and how artistic they are, and her interviews and how cute and adorable she is. I also think she is very relatable, because she has always been very open about things like her anxiety, neurodivergence, and sadly most recently, trauma. Her music got me through a shitty ass 2025 and right now a not much better 2026. I know losing a pet is not the same thing as an ectopic pregnancy, but the topics of grief and trauma on her new album have definitely helped me cope. I wrote a letter thanking her for this that I dropped off in her fan club mailbox. I also made a bracelet for her with her name on it. ❤️
Not to mention, I am a straight woman who has been married to a man for the last three years, and I have a HUGE girl crush on her. She is fucking gorgeous!!! And honestly she has made me feel better about my own looks. I have thin lips, and I have been very self conscious about that ever since the Kardashian/Jenner family made it seem like having big lips was a requirement in order to be beautiful. But Florence also has thin lips and she has never gotten any plastic surgery, and I think she is so stunning. I love her fashion sense too. Fuck I just love everything about her!!!
I originally wanted to get tickets to her show in Toronto, but it sold out. Then I tried Montreal, but it was in the middle of the week and flights were pretty pricey. Then I tried Phoenix, because that is where my brother currently lives, and ever since November of last year, the question of the day has been, “Is it May 9th yet?” 😛
The concert was FUCKING AMAZING and I may even go as far to say my favorite concert I have been to. She sounded amazing, I loved the setlist, I loved her stage presence and how she interacted with the crowd. It is just like… every time I feel like I cannot love her more, she proves me wrong.
I am still on a high and honestly think she became my favorite artist ever after Saturday night.
Florence, thank you so much for an incredible show in Phoenix on Saturday, and for making the past year suck significantly less. ❤️❤️❤️