Sabrina Claudio "Truth Is" Tour – Electric Brixton / by Jakira Kamaly

Sabrina Claudio performing at the Electric Brixton, London ‘19. Photo by JAKIRA.

Sabrina Claudio performing at the Electric Brixton, London ‘19. Photo by JAKIRA.

Alternative R&B/Pop artist, Sabrina Claudio, came to London in November to perform at the Electric Brixton. The show was a stop on her ‘Truth Is’ Tour which kicked off in Los Angeles, CA in September and ended in Antwerp, BE towards the end of November.

I discovered Sabrina’s music for the first time, last year, whilst browsing aimlessly on YouTube. The song Stand Still was recommended to me and I was instantly obsessed. I’ll be honest, I’m trash when it comes to music. For someone who claims to “love music so much”, I really don’t branch out enough; I tend to stick to the same artists. Most of the time, I listen to K-pop and have been doing so for the past few years. In terms of music that doesn’t come from Korea, I only really keep up with releases from Halsey. I agree, I’m a disgrace. I think it’s because I tend to get bored quite easily and at least with K-pop, I can rely on artists to put out new music, regularly. Also, I buy all my music on iTunes, because I’m obnoxious and like to own my music, so I don’t use Spotify or Apple Music. This, obviously, limits the music that I’m able to listen to. I should really start using a music streaming site.

I honestly think that Sabrina is so underrated as an artist; she brings something so unique to the music industry and I’m obsessed. Her voice is mesmerising and her music just makes me feel like I’m floating on a cloud. Sabrina toured North America with 6lack during his ‘Free 6lack’ Tour in August 2017 and is due to join fellow R&B artist,The Weeknd, on ‘The After Hours’ Tour, later this year.

The shows on the ‘Truth Is’ tour featured a live band, which was so incredibly beautiful. There’s something about live bands that really blow me away. It just makes it feel more real, you know? Not that there’s anything wrong with a backing track but it’s just satisfying being able to see an instrument while it’s doing it’s thang. What am i saying? I'm observing fast for Ramadan right now and it definitely shows.

Unfortunately, due to issues with Sabrina’s health, the show only lasted for about 20 minutes. She performed 4 songs, if I remember correctly, then stopped the show and sat down to talk with us. Sabrina had been performing back-to-back shows (roughly 40 shows in total) for a few months, which eventually took a toll on her health. In tears, Sabrina explained that she hadn’t been taking very good care of herself, saying “Sometimes I forget that I’m not superhuman.”

Sabrina took to Instagram to give a statement about the show the following day, saying:

‘I’m so sorry for not being able to make it through the set. Thank you so much for your messages, wishing me well. I’m also currently working on rescheduling the show, as I promised, so please keep your tickets! I will post with updates once I have them.’

Fans assured Sabrina that it wasn’t her fault and regardless, she still did her best. She stood on stage with a bottle of water next to her and regularly took sips between songs. I’m not the greatest singer but I’ve performed a few times and have even taken Grade exams in Vocals. There would be times when I was due to perform somewhere or had a vocal exam the next day but I couldn’t sing properly, due to having a sore throat or a cold. It’s really frustrating and I can’t imagine what it’s like to feel like you’ve let your fans down, especially when they’ve paid money, come a long way and waited in a queue to see you. This was my first time seeing Sabrina and it (hopefully) won’t have been my last. I don’t listen to The Weeknd much these days but I’m considering buying tickets to one of his shows, just so I can see Sabrina perform.

I’d just like to add that Sabrina is genuinely so unbelievably beautiful. My friend and I literally spent the entire show, whispering “wow, she’s so beautiful” to each other.

If you’ve never heard any of Sabrina Claudio’s music and want some song recommendations, my favourites are “Stand Still”, “Messages From Her” and “Rumours” (which features Zayn). Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!
Stay safe and stay positive.

Love,

JK ♡

More photos from Sabrina Claudio’s Electric Brixton show. Photos by JAKIRA.