Concert Review: Nao Takes Terminal 5 To Saturn

Nao is THE FEEL GOOD ARTIST! Playing at Terminal 5, her good nature was infectious and led her adoring fans to give into something everyone always resist: the present. Watching a three-story, Sold-OUT concert venue shake and twerk as if life were a judgement-free zone taught me that to feel good is to feel sexy. 

Whether you were wearing your finest, club outfit or rocking chunky sweatpants, it did not matter. Nao is the artist that makes you feel so good inside, “your outside” becomes a casual non-factor to what really matters; you are really happy. On tour for her sophomore album, Saturn, which was one of the best of 2018, Nao is so lovely as a human being, and took the time to show she is highly relatable. She explained that Saturn was a record for the late twenty-something/ early thirty-something that has realized things have to change. If your early twenties are wide-eyed with faith that every dream in life comes true, your late twenties are a realization that that is not positively plausible and you need to start getting rid of the negative people in your reality. Like Saturn, she did, and the result was a show the made happy look good. 

After Nao’s explanation of Saturn, there was a shift in the room. While the crowd already loved her, she became their sister; the guide that understands their spiritual lows but somehow has managed to transfer them into sonic highs.  Everyone sang along to tracks such as, “Orbit,” “Gabriel,” “Make It Out Alive,” and “Another Lifetime” as if their heartbeats were being monitored by the verses. The audience had such a devout connection to Nao that her concert became mesmerizing. It was amazing to see people get out of their heads, whether they were single, romantically coupled, or grouped with friends, and just become human beings laughing and loving. No labels, just layers. 

From “Complicated” to “Fool To Love,” Nao’s show is a ripe blend between a club-night and an emotionally therapeutic, vent session. Her songs feel like stress relief and her voice becomes salvation. This young woman can hit a higher, more forceful note then wind chimes in a hurricane. She combusts with energy and sweetness; allowing her voice and personalty to become one in honeyed unison, and creating an ambiance that shows joy makes you move better. For More Information On Nao Click Here.