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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGrace Ives played for a small crowd at Club Dada Wednesday night. Next month she’ll be playing arenas in Europe. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGrace Ives played for a small crowd at Club Dada Wednesday night. Next month she’ll be playing arenas in Europe. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Alyssa Fields<\/p>\n
A few dozen people stood wth ample room to swing their arms in Club Dada on Wednesday<\/a> night, waiting for bedroom-pop artist Grace Ives to take the stage. Ives, who was just announced as an opener for the European leg of Olivia Rodrigo\u2019s world tour, will have no trouble entertaining arena-sized audiences if her show in Dallas was the first mark of what\u2019s to come from her live sets.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier this year, after a three-year hiatus, Ives released her third album, Girlfriend, to rave reviews <\/a>that compared the confessional 11-track, 36-minute record to Lorde\u2019s Melodrama and Sky Ferreira\u2019s Night Time, My Time, two albums that have been continuously named as the best releases of the 2010s. <\/p>\n Ives began her set with the album\u2019s lead single, \u201cAvalanche,\u201d an upbeat song about abandoning indulgent and self-destructive behaviors that accompanied her alcoholism. With a bubblegum pink mane and an infectious energy, she thrashed across the stage from the first second to the last, as strobe lights bounced around the room, making the sometimes dingy Dada feel closer to a poppers-scented nightclub<\/a> rather than a go-to spot for long-haired guitarists crushing pedals. Through her set, Ives seldom stood still, and the crowd quickly matched her vivacity and propensity to jump.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sign up for the Music newsletter to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox<\/p>\n THANK YOU!<\/p>\n You’re all set.<\/p>\n CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Ives\u2019 synth-dependent sound, most prominent on her last album, was even more dramatic when performed live. Added runs and vocal prowess, not as easily detected on her recorded tracks, emerged as unexpected and pleasant proof of her talent.\u00a0<\/p>\n She ran through most of Girlfriend before playing deeper cuts, and seemed surprisingly taken aback by the crowd\u2019s knowing response. This tour marked her first visit to Texas, playing Austin and Houston before ending her state run in Big D. Ives told the crowd she loved the Lone Star State. We tend to have that effect on people, and we hope it means she\u2019ll be back.<\/p>\n \u201cThis makes me feel like I\u2019m doing the right thing,\u201d she said as she looked into the small audience, underestimating the resonance of her music about sobriety, yearning, insecurity and girlhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the middle of her set, Ives announced it was time to play something old, before launching into \u201cShelly,\u201d a lively song about having a crush on a hot waitress (a universal experience), from her sophomore album, Janky Star. The song relied heavily on Ives\u2019 stage companions, artistic collaborators and best friends (so she said on stage), John DeBold on synth and bass and Mikee Colet on drums.\u00a0<\/p>\n