Singer and songwriter Sia, along with the rest of the cast and crew of her “Nostalgic for the Present” tour marked their 13th show on Oct. 21 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Touring is a grueling task alone, but what makes Sia’s tour even more difficult is that she refrains from showing her face throughout the show.
After succumbing to the pressures of fame – and battling depression and addiction – Sia, 40, made a personal decision to stay out of the limelight and write songs for other artists. She somewhat returned to being an artist after releasing her two most recent albums, “1000 Forms of Fear” and “This is Acting.”
The music industry has become so focused on image rather than music, making it easy to get caught up in the glamor of it all. It is troubling to imagine a concert in which the artist is not the center of the attention, yet Sia is able to engage the audience in a way that is unprecedented in modern pop music.
Sia’s physical presence in her “Nostalgic for the Present” tour is expectedly hidden, yet her spot-on vocals and experiential songwriting soared as the center of attention. Various per-formance artists, special effects and dancers were also employed for the tour, including “Dance Moms” star Maddie Ziegler, who is only 14.
Sia began her set with a performance of “Alive” surrounded by a handful of dancers imitating a dress. As she belted out the first chorus, the crowd went wild as the dancers departed, revealing Sia and the white dress and hair bow that she would continue to wear for the majority of the show.
After “Alive,” Sia relocated to her corner of the stage underneath a dimmed spotlight and let her performance artists take center stage. This aspect of the show included a man who donned a sequin jacket and gloves, which he used to turn himself into a human disco ball during “Diamonds,” and a frantic Ziegler who graced the stage with her phenomenal dance routines during hits like “Elastic Heart” and “Chandelier.”
Actress and comedian Kristen Wiig also made a cameo appearance in a pre-taped video during “One Million Bullets” holding an umbrella as flashes of light imitated a spray of bullets. One of the most powerful moments of the show was during “Big Girls Cry,” in which Ziegler re-mained in a chair for the duration of the song.
As the final chorus approached, a man behind her began covering her mouth with his hands and raising her up into the darkness of the stage. Anyone who knows Sia’s backstory knows that this was an artistic representation of her own dark personal struggle.
The major message to be acquired from Sia’s show is that physical presence is not eve-rything. Her ability to connect to the audience solely through her voice and art gives even the most powerful stage presences in music a run for their money. It’s relieving to know that image isn’t a necessity in this age of music and that simply utilizing artistry can be just as enticing.
Setlist:
- “Alive”
- “Diamonds”
- “Reaper”
- “Bird Set Free”
- “Big Girls Cry”
- “One Million Bullets”
- “Cheap Thrills”
- “Soon We’ll Be Found”
- “Elastic Heart”
- “Titanium”
- “Breathe Me”
- “Fire Meet Gasoline”
- “Move Your Body”
- “Unstoppable”
- “Chandelier”
Encore:
- “The Greatest”