Tori Kelly wanted to host intimate acoustic sessions for her fans before the release of her new album, where she would be able to give her dedicated fans a taste of what is to come and the Tori Kelly who they grew to love.

Kelly had an intimate space set up for just her and her guitarist, Mateus.  The stage at The Pageant was decorated for a living room experience with a couch, sitting chair, end table, rug, lamp and, of course, a mug full of tea for Kelly to sip in between songs.

The whole purpose of the tour was to showcase the different songs that Kelly had been working on since her last studio album “Hiding Place” that was released in 2018 and also won her a Grammy for best Gospel Album in 2018. She would take the time to explain a back story behind almost every song that would make the audience whisper in hushed tones so that they could hear the meaning Kelly had given to each song.

For example, one song she spoke on titled, “Pretty Fades” came about when she was talking to her husband—her boyfriend at the time—and how they were growing up and changing, mentally and physically, into different people versus when they first met. She explained how her husband meant kind intentions with the comment, “Babe, I’ll still love you even when you’re ugly,” even though it didn’t come off that way originally. It made her really think about how she had been holding onto her youth and wrote down the words “pretty fades.” She then went into a writing session with just those words in her journal and a whole new song developed from there.

Kelly did not disappoint her fans who were there based off of her past hits though doing songs such as, “Nobody Love,” “I Was Made For Loving You” and “Should’ve Been Us.” These songs off her old album that sparked her into the eye of the Grammys in 2015 when she was nominated for Best New Artist.

She knew some of her fans have been with her longer than that, though, and Tori Kelly walked her audience through the evolution to be where she is today. She started off at the age of six and explained how she sang Christina Aguilera’s song “Keep On Singin’ My Song” on a television show called “Star Search,” which lead to her eventually getting signed to a record label at age 12. She continued her story and explained how there was a mutual decision to leave the label she was signed to and that was when she knew she never wanted to rely on anyone else but herself. She taught herself guitar and started performing on Youtube. She explained more of her back story that includes trying out for “American Idol” and the success her Youtube channel brought her. This all came full circle when she was able to write and produce her first album and tour her own songs, which she then performed a mashup of her originals such as, “Confetti,” “All in My Head” and “Dear No One.”

Kelly did a great job keeping the audience entertained and doing a wide spectrum of her songs. The stripped down versions of her songs made for a special treat to all her new and old fans. Mateus brought out a fun playful side of Kelly where they both got to show off their guitar skills. The evening was filled with a more relaxed vibe, where Kelly truly got to connect to her fans. Plus, how many people can say they got to see a recent Grammy winner in such an intimate space? Not many.