Sophie B. Hawkins Is Going to Sue Herself

Last updated on May 24th, 2023 at 07:12 pm

Sophie B. Hawkins returned to the Dakota last night to celebrate the release of her 7th album, “Free Myself.” After interviewing Sophie leading up to the evening, it was obvious her stage presence would be charming. Sprinkled between many of her new songs, she shared humorous and heartfelt stories that warmed the crowd.

Hawkins immediately played a throwback track, “Mysteries We Understand’ from her 1992 breakout release Tongues And Tails. She floated around the stage like a free spirit, pounding on the hand drum, grabbing a drum stick to play a cymbal, and bouncing back and forth from the piano to the guitar. “As I Lay Me Down” came early as the third song, enticing the crowd to sing along to the breakout ballad.

She then shared a story about making the music video for “Better Off Without You.” They had flown the band in to shoot the video in an old recording studio. Halfway through, the director stated they had to ditch all the footage because there was a poster in the background that they didn’t notice.

He stated that if the video got big, the artist on the poster could sue them for showing their image without asking. Hawkins walked over to the wall and looked closer: the director hadn’t recognized that it was a poster of the singer at a young age.

The most vital part of her set came from a duo of new songs. The gentle title track, “Free Myself,” landed perfectly in Sophie’s vocal range, allowing her voice to saturate the room. She followed that with “You Are My Balloon,” written right after giving birth to her daughter. With Seth Glier at the piano, the performance was another perfect moment in the evening where you could feel the story in your chest.

The biggest moment came from the 1992 hit, “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover.” Hawkins encouraged the audience to curse along, building to her feverish collapse on stage. Proud to be in her third act in life, Sophie continues to tell stories that resonate with others while celebrating new lessons from endured hardships.