Last weekend the All Things Go festivals took place in both New York and Maryland, staging back-to-back concerts that centered women and queer artists.
Sunday night in New York, wholesomeness and drama went down at the Forest Hills Stadium, in Queens; the historic tennis venue that also hosts big concerts including Mumford & Sons (2013), Paul McCartney (2014), Chance the Rapper (2017), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (2017), Arctic Monkeys (2018), The Strokes (2019), Phoebe Bridgers (2021).
And at the center of it, was the Sunday (9/28) headliner, Pretty Girl herself, Clairo.
Wait, what, headlining?
Yes, it was the 27-year-old's first time headlining a festival, and the sweet angel was honest on her socials saying what a big deal it was for her and how she's feeling "very sentimental" about everything.
"I'm so thankful. Thank you for being here," she said.
As she did earlier this year at Coachella, Clairo shared the milestone experience with her COVID-era side band, Shelly.
Right around this time back in 2020 when many were in self imposed locked down and live concerts were not happening, Clairo formed a group with Claud, Josh Mehling, and Noa Frances Getzug called Shelly.
They sent demos and ideas to each other digitally while being holed up in different cities. The night before Halloween, 2020, they debuted with the singles “Steeeam” and “Natural.”
Clairo is no stranger to singles and EPs. Her early EPs include Do U Wanna Fall in Love? (2014), Metal Heart (2014), Have a Nice Day (2015), Late Show with The Curlys (2015), Aquarius Boy (2015), Moth Girl (2015), Crush Culture (2015), and Diary 001 (2018).
So knocking out two singles for LOLs while waiting for the world to open up so she could release her debut LP, was a walk in the park.
It also worked as a little place holder because right before the lockdown, Clairo was breaking through, so any sort of new music was good for her new fans, and sure enough "Steeeam" became a quiet little hit.
It has been streeeamed 140 million times on Spotify alone.
In July, a few months after the Coachella cameo, the group came out with Shelly 2, another two-song release featuring “Cross Your Mind” and “Hartwell.” Still lo-fi AF, but with a hint of polish.
Were they tunes from the lockdown era, polished up after being revisited?
Who knows. Who cares.
It's now canon, which is all that matters.
And then on her big night, something unbelievable happened. And sadly, not in a good way.
After performing "Sexy to Someone" she was midway through "Juna" when the organizers cut her mic due to a strict noise ordinance.
"The festival cut us off," she explained on her Twitter account.
"No idea why. Really sad we couldn’t do our big finish , more surprised they cut my mic mid song . Sad honestly doesn’t even explain it - I’m sorry," she wrote.
On Instagram she said, "we got cut off but that was a beautiful show nonetheless. I'm really sorry . And I love you. I wish I could have had more time with you . But I loved every minute of it !"
You know it's her because of her creative uses of spaces around her punctuation.
The quick hook probably came about due to the fact that the event had racked up several noise complaints over the weekend, and it didn't want to get a 10th violation for going over the 10pm curfew.
“Our top priority is being a good neighbor, and [Sunday night] was no exception,” the venue's spokesperson, Grace Smoker said.
“We turned off the sound system promptly at 10 p.m. in accordance with our curfew. The artist's team was fully notified of this policy beforehand and again during the set,” Smoker said.
The venue has racked up several violations over 2025 from King Gizzard to the Black Keys. Even Chappell Roan earned them two dings when she headlined two nights there last month.
What might be her last gig of the year will be when she jets over to LA for the Camp Flog Gnaw festival at Dodger Stadium. One nice thing about not being the headliner is it's very hard to have the plug pulled because of curfew.
Tix available at Clairo's website.
