Grace Gardner and Isabel Dumaa bring Baby’s All Right to life
New York, NY - September 7th, 2023
Grace Gardner and Isabel Dumaa performed at the famous Williamsburg venue Baby’s All Right. Artists like SZA, Blood Orange, and Billie Eilish have played this intimate venue in the past, but on September 7th, Gardner and Dumaa made a name for themselves on the tiny stage backed with a wall of blue lights. Gardner set the stage for Dumaa’s first headline show ever, and both artists proved their status as true performers.
Giggling on her way to the stage, Grace Gardner slung her rainbow guitar strap on her shoulder, ready to create an atmosphere of feeling among the crowd. She opened her set with “Scorpions Don’t Live Forever,” a track about loss in a past relationship. Maybe more simply, it’s about her identity as a Scorpio since that was one of the first things she said to the crowd. Before harmonizing her way through the bridge of the song, she revealed that she fell down a rabbit hole researching scorpions. And the metaphor rang strong.
In an equally if not more calming guitar riff, Gardner sang her unreleased track “Cleanup Dive.” This song, which she has posted a number of times on her TikTok, takes a more optimistic view on the pain that comes along with life. Conflicting herself, she sang, “Now I have to reach to find what used to be repeating in my mind / not compelled to tell a lie though it’s easiest to say I’m doing fine.” The moving moments were cushioned by her occasional joke about messing up a chord or using the word “fouey.”
Gardner gave the audience very few emotional breaks during her six-song set. She joked that her dad described her catalog as “gutwrenching,” and this show proved him right. In “Deny Me,” she sang, “I'll keep singing love songs about you at my shows 'til the message gets through.” While she recently released “deny me (lovesong version),” it’s hard to hear the love until the end of the song, when she sings, “I fell in love with a girl / Who made me get out of bed in the morning.” But hearing that shift in perspective live made the room radiate. Regardless of the devastating tracks (like “Lubbock,” about parenting a partner in a relationship), Gardner’s presence was dazzling.
She finished off the set with her favorite song to perform live, “Parcel.” The deceivingly upbeat sound hid the melancholy lyricism.
After a brief intermission, guests gathered back on the floor with drinks in hand, ready to move. Isabel Dumaa burst onto the stage to perform her song “Trust Fall.” This unreleased track immediately got the crowd dancing with its syncopated drum beat and guitar strums. The lyrics were consistently pensive like Gardner’s lyrics, but Dumaa’s pop/rock sound shifted the energy of the room.
When performing, Dumaa pranced around the stage and performed to the back of the room. Taking the mic off the stand, she held it towards the top and bent into it as she sang. During her debut single “Call My Bluff,” Dumaa jumped up and down not afraid to trip on the mic chord.
With only four songs released, many audience members didn’t know all the words. Dumaa made sure to introduce every song, giving its brief backstory. You could hear the smile on her face every time she talked or sang, her dimples acting as an accessory. It didn’t matter that the audience did not know all the songs because the crowd felt so invested in the music and the experience.
Dumaa’s voice resembled Miley Cyrus’s at times, especially in her unreleased song “Lost,” although she sometimes calls it “Dangerous Game.” Her smooth voice turned gruff on certain words.
During her whole set, her band members met her level of performance – eyes closed, really feeling every note they played. But something shifted when Dumaa played her song “Marry Her.” Guitar in hand, she sang a poignant ballad. “I had hoped that we’d find our way back when we were old, but now I know that it’s not my story,” she sang as her eyes glistened.
If you thought a “Dancing Queen” cover could only be fun and games, you’d be surprised to hear Dumaa’s sad girl rendition. Dedicated to her recently seventeen-year-old sister, she sang a melodic, heartfelt version of this classic dancing song. Her keyboardist, who she’s known since their childhood soccer days, filmed this track in awe.
Not to fear, Dumaa quickly brought the energy back up and up and up with a cover of “You Belong With Me.” In celebration of her first headline show, she decided it was only right to play the first song she ever played live. The entire crowd jumped with their arms in the air taking in this special and historic moment. Through hair flips and groovy dance moves, Dumaa proved herself to be a star.
Not once did her stage presence falter – her heart out on the stage during her slower tracks and her best popstar confidence on the upbeat ones. To close out her set, she played “Quarter Life Crisis.” She belted to the crowd, “If I never make a dollar / As the star of my own melodrama / I'll be doin' what I wanna,” as the whole crowd danced along.
From swaying to dancing, the crowd engaged with these two rising artists from start to finish. Gardner and Dumaa’s energy never fell short, and neither did the audience’s. These two are likely to be powerhouses in the coming years. Their distinctive songwriting paired with their infectious stage presence sets them up to be stars in the future.