CHICAGO | On Tuesday, October 1st, the wonderful, whimsical, and artistically-sound singer/songwriter Dora Jar returned to Chicago at Lincoln Hall just a few months after her main-stage performance at Lollapalooza. This was the third time I have had the pleasure of seeing her perform; the first time opening for The 1975 at Allstate Arena last year, and the second at the Bud Light stage at Lollapalooza, where I was able to meet her post-performance. Even so, this was the first headline show of Jar’s that I have attended, and my expectations were thoroughly exceeded. Artists rarely enter the scene already authentically themselves throughout their entire body of work. Yet, sure of herself and her sound, Jar flourishes standing before hundreds of people.
During this run of shows, Jar’s promotes her debut album, No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire, released a few weeks prior to the tour’s start. The tour’s title “Behind the Curtain,” comes from a song from her debut of the same name. The song’s chorus aptly states “Together behind the curtain / Pull the lever, lighten the burden / I’m ready for anything now,” which she certainly seems to be. By opening with this song, Jar gently eased the crowd into her avant-garde performance style. On stage, she appears somewhat akin to Lorde circa 2014; frolicking about, speaking to the audience like she is on the same level, making strange noises, and garnering crowd participation—which she happily welcomes. At one point she asked the crowd if they were pirates before leading into her fittingly named song “Cannonball,” meant to emulate the feeling of sailing on the sea. “There is a pirate inside of all of you – and this is for … that” she explained before stomping on the stage and strumming a complex guitar melody.
According to the Harvard Crimson, Jar drew inspiration from Cirque du Soleil shows to bring to her stage to life—a clash of lights, visuals, and dance. This vision, paired with her haunting indie-pop sound soared through Lincoln Hall. As she tore through her debut, which made up ten songs on the setlist, she intermittently played through the hits— “Bumblebee,” a single from 2022 that cemented her spot in the alternative pop world, “Opening” and “Quiver” from 2021’s EP, Digital Meadow, and the crowd-dividing “Scab Song” which was what partially persuaded me to be a recurring listener after seeing her perform last year.
“Scab Song” is a setlist staple of Jar’s, who explained during the show that she can really tell during this particular song “who gets it and who doesn’t.” It specifically features Jar’s habitual ability to pair the physical act of being human and having a body your soul lives in with the natural world we occupy and the existential feelings we grapple with daily. This theme can be spotted in the lyrics of fan-favorite “Lagoon,” the first verse expressing “My heart is a crustacean / Could you come and crack it open?” and title track “No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire.”
That song, which came near the end of the setlist, marked a high point of the performance. It begins beautifully with dreamy guitar and soft drums that flow effortlessly into her breathy vocal tone. It keeps the same sentiment as mentioned before—her ability to pair humanness with references to nature. “You’re like a landslide taking me with you” in verse two is quintessential Jar lyricism which is both profound and thought out. Her artistry is effortless in both performance and production. On stage, these words poured out of her—with quirky dance moves to match.
She closed with popular tunes “Multiply” and “Puppet” and told us many times over, “Thank you for making it here on a Tuesday!” Throughout Puppet’s runtime, she screamed, thrashed her limbs about, and ended up in a dog pile with her guitarist and bass player. The song winded her and the audience, purely from the collective effervescence experienced in that moment. She blew us kisses and dashed off stage. It was a fanciful one-hour-long affair that left me wondering if I should catch the train to St. Paul to see the next one. Dora Jar is a once-in-a-lifetime artist with a passion for lyricism and the carefree energy of a great pop star. Make sure to listen to her debut album No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire – your ears will appreciate it.