Live Review: Robyn at Barclays Center

On September 10, Robyn performed at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center as part of her North America tour supporting her latest LP, Sexistential, released by Konichiwa Records and Young. This marks Robyn’s third headlining show at Barclays Center. The London-based act Romy opened with a DJ set at 8 pm, followed by the second opener,  Lil C, who took the stage at 8:30 pm with her own unique DJ performance. The Brooklyn crowd was as enthusiastic for the openers as they were for Robyn, who graced the stage at 9 pm with “Blow My Mind” from her latest record. Emerging from behind two white curtains on a two-tiered stage with lighting pods and several rotating flash lamp prisms on each corner of the set.  Her stage presence shines through in a synth-pop set of 21 songs with almost no breaks, aside from quick changes that don’t break the show’s stride. 

Utilizing every area of the stage, Robyn rotated on a revolver hidden in the catwalk on the track “Hang With Me,” originally recorded by Paola Bruna. Under bright white lights, and at moments facing away from the crowd as the stage turned, Robyn transitioned into her track “Ever Again” from 2018 as she integrated her deep catalogue of nine studio albums into the set. The crowd was in the moment, with few people filming, which lifted the energy and turned this major Brooklyn arena into a more intimate environment. Beam-angle lights cover the arena on her track “Sexistential,” with pyrotechnics going off on her next song, “Really Real,” building off the energy of the crowd more through each song. Robyn’s tour does not translate over a video on Instagram Reels, it is an in-person experience, much like a DJ set is for the people in the room.

Robyn is one of many artists bringing Swedish electric dance pop music to the U.S. this summer on tour, including Zara Larsson, who is breaking through in the U.S. this year. The Brooklyn music scene is known for hosting more techno and EDM concerts, making Barclays Center the perfect venue to host Robyn. Pacing herself mid-set, she delivered an acoustic section of “Be Mine,” and “Show Me Love,” under a white spotlight rigged just above her mic stand. 

Bringing out her opening act, Romy, during “With Every Heartbeat,” the two white curtains closed again, with the two artists performing on the second-tier stage. This moment was one of the few times the show drifted from EDM to pop music. The energy peaked when the instrumental opening of “Dancing On My Own” started, which is the top-performing song on Robyn’s Spotify with over 520 million streams, and the show closed with pyros and confetti. The Sexistential tour spans Robyn’s 35-year-long career with a 21-song set influenced by Swedish pop and electronic dance music and attracts a wide-ranging, diverse crowd.

Setlist

1. Blow My Mind
2. Fembot
3. Talk To Me
4. Hang With Me (Paola Cover)
5. Ever Again
6. Dopamine
7. Honey
8. Life (Jamie XX Cover)
9. Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do
10. Sexistential
11. Really Real
12. Love Kills
13. Be Mine (Acoustic)
14. Show Me Love (Acoustic)
15. Light Up
16. Sucker For Love
17. Indestructible
18. With Every Heartbeat (With Romy)

Encore

   19.  Missing U

    20. Call Your Girlfriend

     21. Dancing On My Own

Photo credit: Brett Padelford