Caroline Polachek has been on her Heart is Unbreaking tour, and on Thursday night (12/2) she arrived in NYC for a big, sold out show at Terminal 5. Arooj Aftab opened the night for a brief, otherworldly set, accompanied by a harpist and guitarist. While the show was announced not long after the release of her excellent third album, Vulture Prince, she's since notched Best New Artist and Best Global Music Performance Grammy nominations, and gotten a wave of year end list acclaim for the new album. French vocalist and producer Oklou followed with her own set of vibrant pop.
Caroline came out in flashes of dramatic lighting and had the crowd dancing and singing along throughout her entire set. She said what a special night it was, returning to NYC, and on a palindromic date (12/02/2021). She had a surprise guest on hand, Dev Hynes, aka Blood Orange, who joined her for a rendition of "Chamakay" from his 2013 album Cupid Deluxe, a set highlight. Other high points included Pang single "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings;" Caroline's cover of The Corrs' "Breathless," which she called one of the best pop songs of all time; and her performance of this year's "Bunny is a Rider," which more than a few people arrived wearing bunny ears in reference to. Like she's done at previous shows this tour, for the encore, Caroline brought Oklou back out for a mesmerizing cover of Massive Attack's "Teardrop," before playing "Door" to end the night