By Fenton Wright, Web Services Coordinator
Who: Violet Grohl
Venue: Crystal Ballroom
When: September 24, 2026
Just before this show, I had the opportunity to sit down with Violet Grohl for a few minutes to ask her about her album, tour, and, of course, horror. In our conversation, she mentioned the wave of anxiety that comes over her just before every show. Even knowing how she might have been feeling before coming on stage, I could barely tell that she had nerves at all.
At just 20 years old—only a month older than me—she took the stage as if she was born to be a star, and, in some ways, she was. All through the interview, she mentioned her experiences in the music industry and how surreal it was to now be the one in the spotlight.
Violet Grohl has been one of the most interesting artists that I have started listening to over the past year. Her music exists in this space of 90s grunge, but also there is a lot of atmospheric rock and shoegaze influence in her songs as well. Her music live can only be described as completely overwhelming. The loud bang of the drums, the smoothness of the basslines, and her soft yet imposing voice completely surround you when you’re at one of her shows. To borrow an old recording term, it was like a wall of sound moved across the room, absorbing everyone inside it.
Electrifying Opener
Before Grohl appeared, the opener for her show, Suzy Clue, played a small set of her own. Most of the people in the crowd, including myself, didn’t even know that there was going to be anyone besides Violet playing. But Suzy Clue did not disappoint. Her loud, in-your-face style of performing caught me a bit off guard. Her backing band drifted between calm, slow music and all-out metal between songs. Suzy Clue’s voice was especially surprising.
Given the noise of the band behind her, I was expecting something loud and brash. She is the complete opposite. Her voice reminded me of Maria Zardoya, the lead singer of the Marias. By the end of the first song she played, I was completely hooked.
Her energy and physicality on stage invited all of us to become even more invested in her set. As she danced around the stage with her bassist and guitarist, Suzy Clue raised the energy inside Crystal Ballroom. This electrifying opener set the groundwork for a stunning headline set by Violet Grohl.
A Coming Together of Genres
Immediately at the start of her set, Violet played new, unreleased music. As she gripped the microphone, the fans beneath her tossed her hair around and billowed through her clothes. She had a mythical aura about her as she sang “Stimulant Breakfast.” At its core, this song and Violet Grohl are very closely related to metal music. However, rather than just being a straight shot of one genre, Grohl’s sound in this song seemed to embody the anxiety that she mentioned to me earlier. Every lyric hung in the air with a little bit of discomfort. It almost felt like singing it was painful, because of how much emotion each word has been given by her.
Between each lyric, she would smirk to herself, almost as if she was surprised by how good she sounded. For us in the audience, we didn’t expect anything less. Even some of the older members in the audience got fully into her set.
What the Violet Grohl show further reinforced to me was the sense of community that exists in the Boston concert scene. The older guys in the crowd, people you would not expect to listen to her music at all, showed up because they heard a cover she performed years ago on the radio and have been following her ever since. They were allowing photographers to get in front of them for photos and letting people take photos of the setlist after the show. They were just as dead set on making sure everyone had a good time as Violet herself.
Unforgettable Atmosphere
Towards the middle of the set, Grohl began to play some of her more soothing songs. “Mobile Star,” to be specific, was a massive favorite among the crowd. The moment she announced that they would be playing that song next, a girl next to me screamed, “That’s my song!” With “Mobile Star,” we got to hear Violet’s vocals even more clearly than on other songs. Her voice was buttery smooth as she, with a veteran-like swagger, floated through the song as if she had been playing it live for years.
I think that one of the best parts of the show was how clustered everyone was. We were all so close to the stage, and that is thanks to Crystal Ballroom. Being huddled together around the stage gave everyone a great view of the stage. It also made it feel like one of those shows that you look back on and remember when you see your favorite artist finally blow up in the mainstream.
As she thanked the audience in between songs, it felt like she didn’t know just how much her fans and Boston love her. Outside of her songs, a shy smile would come across her face, giving her an air of humility, but in the middle of the songs, she came across as emboldened and someone unafraid to grab the spotlight that she has found herself in.
Haunting End
As the show came to a close with the final song “Plastic Couch,” I began to understand what made this so intriguing to me. Over the course of the entire show, and by extension her album, there is something haunting about the songs. For me, it felt like it was Violet herself. She imposes her anxiety onto the listener. She forces her thoughts onto us and, by doing that, invites us into a world where she feels like she is at her best. By accepting her insecurities as they are, the audience comes into a world made by Violet Grohl where she can be confident. Listening to the music at the show, it felt like stepping into a world where she could be herself.
