HAMMERSTIEN BALLROOM, NEW YORK, NY- Friday night, the Hammerstein Ballroom sold out to the talent of violinist and dancer Lindsey Stirling. For the past five years, Stirling has grown into an international YouTube sensation, gaining millions of views with her original compositions and covers. Earlier this year she released her memoir The Only Pirate At The Party, which became a bestseller. Now she is on tour not only performing her music, but dancing and creating magical illusions as well.
Brave Enough is Stirling’s third studio album. To open her show, she invited pop singer Shawn Hook. Even though he had some issues tuning his acoustic guitar, Hook had no problem showing the audience his skills on the piano. He even gave his band members time in the spotlight with personal stories. After a set of six songs, he thanked the crowd and went on his way backstage. Lindsey’s tour team set to work in transforming the stage for the main act. The audience held their breathe in anticipation.
The lights of the ballroom dimmed, and an applause erupts from fans. Moments later, Lindsey Stirling appears on the upper platform of the stage, moving the bow of her violin against the strings to “The Phoenix”. She jumps down and dances her way around the stage. She then transitions to “Electric Daisy Violin” and “Prism”. Stirling addressed the crowd and welcomed them to the concert, especially those first timers who would experience a mind-blowing show.
Stirling transformed from a short jumper and t-shirt to a sequin, pink ballerina dress. The visual effects of the lighting crew put Stirling in a glass bubble for “Shatter Me”. The bubble exploded into a forest in “Lost Girls”, and then into images of the four “Elements”. The visuals co-existed with the music to tell a story with each note Lindsey played.
A comedic video played from a pull-down screen while Lindsey went from ballerina to ballroom beauty in a blue dress. She brought out her drummer and keyboardist to perform with classroom instruments. Any preschooler would have been inspired as the trio brought together the sound of these toys to famous scores from Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, and the nursery rhyme “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. They moved on to their normal sized instruments to perform an acoustic version of “Something Wild”. Lindsey then took a moment to talk about her best friend, Gavi, who had died last fall. She explained how his death had led to her emotional turmoil before finding therapy in God and working on Brave Enough. She poured her heart and soul into “Gavi’s Song”, and on the screens were moments she shared with Gavi as she provided the music for “Those Days”.
From ballroom beauty we go to circus ringleader. Lindsey mentioned “technical difficulties” and brought out an adorable entertainment act in collaboration with her rescue dog, Luna. Although Luna was not so cooperative to Lindsey’s commands, she still was a big hit with the audience. Once Luna was backstage, Lindsey and her dancers had another trick up their sleeves— magical illusions. Lindsey split herself in half and appeared in a glass box while playing her violin. Who knew she could perform magic tricks?
The illusions continued with “Mirage” as Lindsey floated in the air. She and her dancers told a new story during “Crystallize”, “The Arena”, “Heist”, and “Hold My Heart”. She thanked New York City for a great show after “Stars Align”.
Lindsey Stirling had one more performance to end the show with a huge bang. After some teasing from her lighting crew, she began to battle her keyboardist, who switched his instrument to an electric guitar and played the first chords of “Roundtable Rival”. The audience clapped to the beat as she added the full melody. The battle continued until it transitioned to “Don’t Let This Feeling Fade”. From there everything went full power. The lights dimmed out to reveal Stirling’s outfit which was donned with neon blue, green, and purple colors. Her violin glowed blue and so did the dancer’s tops. She performed the entire song and then brought out her entire tech crew, tour crew, band members, and backstage managers.
It’s not every show you see all the people behind the scenes and on stage come together for a choreographed dance routine. Yes, you read that right. Lindsey danced along with her crew as their exit bow. Now that is how you end a concert! The Brave Enough tour is not only a music concert. It is emotional story-telling run by a team of creative minds who put their heart and soul into each song. Lindsey Stirling leaves you asking yourself “what makes you Brave Enough?”
Photos and videos: Rosa Elena Burgos
Last Updated: December 29, 2021