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| Aly & AJ @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
It’s a powerful thing when exceptional musical talent unites with identity and purpose and an enthusiastic audience at Oakland’s Fox Theater was witness to this alignment when Aly & AJ kicked off their Spring 2023 Tour in support of their new album “With Love From.”
Sisters Alyson “Aly” and Amanda Joy (“AJ”) Michalka launched their careers back in 2005 with their debut album “Into The Rush” and a year later starred as sisters in Disney Channel’s “Cow Belles” when both were still teenagers. Both have enjoyed many television and movie appearances both separately and together, including “Weepah Way For Now” – a film with very direct parallels to its co-stars (and written by Aly’s now husband Stephen Ringer). Their musical journey seems to have been a quest to find their place and voice as certainly can be expected given the ages and time they passed through along the way.
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| Aly & AJ @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
But “With Love From” – released March 15th seems to have found the now 30’s Aly and AJ in their sweet spot in a place that looks and sounds natural for them. Thursday night, they debuted their new tour with a talented band and visually arresting show that matched up to their high talent. Live, their sound was an enchanting blend of ethereal Laurel Canyon, Americana, dance, angst pop and an occasional dash of country and it worked. They delivered big sound and power harmonies that brought an in-your-face punch to tender and subject lyrics. Their comfort, confidence and connection to the audience were apparent from the time they took the stage with “Open to Something and That Something Is You” all the way through the encore closer of “6 Months of Staring Into The Sun”.
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Aly & AJ @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter)
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The sense of exciting mystery that the opening gig of a tour brings is far too often dampened by technical and timing issues that today’s modern performance complexities create. But Thursday night was like a triumphant launch of a new shiny aircraft effortlessly taking graceful flight. Aly & AJ’s unique sister connection leads to guitar and vocals passing backing forth smoothly and then shaping into beautiful harmonies together. At the outset, they proclaimed this would be the longest show they had performed and it extended right up to the two-hour curfew time without ever losing steam. Ten songs in, they launched into audience favorite “Potential Breakup Song” followed by the quarantine love song “Slow Dancing” and tender “Church.” 2007’s “Like Whoa” was a playful and freewheeling joyride, followed by the sisters sharing a piano stool with Aly on keys and AJ singing on “Division.”
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| Aly & AJ @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
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The enthusiastic audience was comprised of about 90% females with some wearing western outfits to reflect the “Cow Belles” and the sisters recognized their passion and dedicate “On The Ride” to them before speaking about a cause they were thrown into a year earlier. Nearly a year to the date (April 4, 2022) their tour bus was caught in the crossfire of Sacramento’s April 4, 2022 shooting incident. Aly talked about gun safety and they requested that everyone in the audience take out their cellphones and visit a website that features a pledge to ask, “Is there an unlocked gun in the house?” in an effort to cut down on gun violence. By the end of the night, nearly 900 audience members had made the pledge.
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| AJ @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
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The main set closed strong with great Pink-Floyd style guitar work on “Break Yourself”, slide guitar on “Personal Cathedrals”, a fun “After Hours”, a haunting “Way of Nature Way of Grace” and “Rush” that began with a dark and mysterious tone and then built to a bombastic close.
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| Aly @ the Fox Theater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
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Showing their commitment to their present state and identity, Aly & AJ’s encore songs both came from the most recent album. “Blue Dress” – a beautiful song of longing and acceptance – featured the night’s best harmonies supported by gorgeous lighting. “You’ve grown up with us and we’ve grown up with you. We hope you keep coming back because it’s family,” AJ told the audience before the finale. Filling the same role as on the album, “6 Months of Staring into The Sun” closed out what AJ rightfully proclaimed as “a damn fine first show.”
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