Review and Photos – Sudan Archives at the Hollywood Theatre, Vancouver, Sep 30 2022
An hour past showtime, the line for Friday night’s Sudan Archives show still snaked around the corner. Finally, the doors of the Hollywood Theatre opened to ticketholders and, following a brief wait and an opening set by her lone bandmate, the star of the evening bounded onstage, breathless and cheerful. The Cincinnati-raised, LA-based singer/violinist Sudan Archives, born Brittney Parks, began a set focused on songs from her second album, 2022’s Natural Brown Prom Queen.
Following “Home Maker,” the opening track from the album, Parks informed the full house of the reason for her late arrival—after being awoken in Portland at 6 am, “naked,” by her twin sister, she rushed to the airport only to realize she’d forgotten her passport in LA, her home base. The story raised more questions than it answered (how does an internationally-touring performer forget her passport? Doesn’t she have a manager for that? And, more importantly, where did her bandmate get his furry avocado onesie?), but that didn’t matter; we were happy to be transported to the singer’s world of R‘n’B electropop, punctuated by flights of violin fancy and even an Irish jig.
Other highlights of the set included the clubby, innuendo-laden “Freakalizer,” the hook-heavy centrepiece and talk-show calling card from Natural Brown Prom Queen “Selfish Soul,” and “NBPQ (Topless),” essentially the new record’s title track. The latter was part of a two-song set Parks dedicated to “titties.” (The other, if I’m not mistaken, is called “Milk Me.”)
All in all, Sudan Archives’ Vancouver show—her third, if one Internet source is to be believed—was fun, dance-y, and engaging. Check out the gallery below.
Contributors
Kirk Chantraine
Kirk Chantraine is a Canadian photographer and software developer currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He graduated from Vancouver Film School for 3D Animation in 2004 and has been working in the Visual Effects industry ever since with companies such as Electronic Arts and Disney. Over the last few years Kirk has exhibited his photographic works in San Francisco and Vancouver. A music aficionado and vinyl junkie, Kirk shoots live music and performance at an inhuman pace across North America for Bright Noise , along with landscape and portraiture. If you're buying: gin-and-tonics. He is @kchantraine on socials.
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