Grandma, an eccentric alternative artist from Atlanta, Georgia, truly brought a spark of ingenuity to The New Parish last Saturday night when opening for Coco & Clair Clair. Liam Hall, or grandma, took the stage along with Lilly Graves and Rex Detiger who were supporting on guitar and drums respectively. He started off the show with his electronic yet melancholic song “I bleed” off his newest EP Angelhood.

Interacting with the crowd, grandma would often bring his microphone up to the balcony or down to the pit to engage the audience. As I looked around the room, it was apparent that the crowd was bouncing off grandma’s abundant energy.  Friends and family were jumping high with their hands in the sky and toothy smiles on their faces. Everyone seemed to be absolutely bopping to the setlist – even if they didn’t quite know the lyrics. 

Hall is not afraid to experiment with different genres and bend the boundaries of what it means to be an artist. The combination of rather cryptic lyrics with soft, hazy vocals and a heavy punk-rock influence is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. One of my favorite songs he performed that night was “God Hired You To Be My Baby”. 

With lyrics like,

I’ve toyed around with suicide
Everything was do or die
I only see you at night, oh no
You found me on the night train
Told me something so insane
Disappeared out of frame
I don’t know

You wouldn’t expect to be head-banging along with the band. However, grandma found a perfect balance to his abstract and intricate narratives that he weaves through an experimental electronic-rock-R&B melody. 

While grandma’s music is not bound by a single genre, his art is reminiscent and encapsulates various motifs such as spirituality, suburbia and technology. His songs are those that you end up pondering on for days after you’ve heard them. Songs that you immediately connect to before truly comprehending why. It was an honor to witness grandma in his element and to experience a truly chimeric and dreamlike show.

Grandma is currently supporting Coco & Clair Clair on their U.S tour from now until April 15th. Don’t miss out on an unforgettable show that introduces the stories grandma wishes to share with the world through his art.