Review: LÉON at U Street Music Hall

When an artist pours his/her heart out to a crowd, the crowd will pour its heart out too. That’s exactly what happened at LÉON’s emotional last show of the “Surround Me” tour. There were tears and there was laughter but most importantly, there was the overwhelming reassurance that LÉON is here to stay. As a testament to her skills, this was the second completely sold out show in DC for LÉON in less than a year's time.

She opened up with “Treasure,” covered “Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?” by Arctic Monkeys and drew tears with “Liar,” and finished the set with “Surround Me.” She was incredibly engaging throughout her set, feeding fans with anecdotes and jokes after each song. “I can feel the sweat pouring out my knees and it’s weird,” she said after performing an energetic rendition of “Nobody Cares.” She then went on to explain to the new fans that she’s Swedish and how her song, "Liar," came about at a bar in Stockholm while having a few too many drinks with a friend.

LEÓN tried (unsuccessfully) to fend off tears as she bid an emotional farewell to her tour-mate, Wrabel, after inviting him to perform “Surround Me” with her. It was a touching moment as they wrapped the tour, hugging and shrugging off tears. LEÓN then said goodbye to all of her fans in the front row, even taking the time for selfies with a few of them. While some headed toward the exit, the majority of the crowd started begged for an encore, even though she had given signs she wasn’t going to do one.

A few minutes later, she returned to the stage and someone in the crowd drunkenly yelled for her to play “Tired of Talking.” With a huge grin on her face, LEÓN said she was going to do another cover and joked about how the other day she told the crowd she was playing a song by Stevie Wonder as Nick Poulios, the pianist played the introduction to Superstition. “Very superstitious, writings on the wall, that’s about all I know” she giggled, “someone will have to come up and sing it. Next time I promise I will sing it for you DC.” Then she said she had meant Stevie Nicks and played her cover of “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac.