Ava Max at Varsity Theater (06/30/2023)

It was an all-age show with kids under ten and parents in toe. One parent, the size of a football coach, escorted his two daughters to the Varsity Theater. The girls were bespeckled from head to toe with glitter, pink and excitement, and their dad had a list of rules as one of the girls replied: “Yes, I know how to say please and thank you.”

Good advice for they were heading to the “meet and greet” line to have an audience with their hero.

Ava Max is having quite the tour. Like a lot of artists, she had planned on touring to promote her debut album Heaven & Hell, but the pandemic hit and put everything on hold. Well, not everything, Max still continued to produce songs and videos and soon blew up on the internet, bringing more interest to her debut tour.

Band of Silver opened the evening with a lively set of 80’s influenced rock. They are a three-piece group from Nashville, TN, all siblings with Avery Silvernagle on lead vocals, Alex on guitar and Evan on drums. They started as a band in high school and have been quite active, releasing eleven LP’s and EP’s since their debut Always in 2020.

They played a brief set with highlights being “Shopping for Problems” and “Artificial Intelligence.” Then Avery said that the next song “Machine” was a little more personal for it was about having to deal with chronic illnesses, which she alluded to having along with her brother Alex.

The Scarlet Opera was up next and they started off in dramatic fashion with “Riot.”

They are a glam rock band from LA formed when Luka Bazulka (lead vocals) hit it off with Colin Kendrick (Piano) at a warehouse party. Along with Daniel Zuker on bass, Justin Siegal on drums and Chance Taylor on guitar, they started a band as Perta before changing their name when releasing their EP Comedy this year.

Their new name is a nod to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, but Bazulka seemed to channel the great Freddy Mercury of Queen with a big voice and the presentation of a flamenco dancer/matador. A highlight was a cover of “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” made famous by Tina Turner. They also finished with “Alive,” a stirring anthem for the LGBTQ+ community.

Ava Max was up next and what a show. The Varsity was sold out and it felt like she could have easily filled a bigger venue. Still, it was fun to see dad’s hoisting their young daughters on their shoulders so they could peer over the crowd, while others danced to the embarrassing glee of their kids.

Ava Max aka Amanda Koçi is promoting her latest album Diamonds & Dancefloors, but there were plenty of songs from her debut album, which Billboard described as: “[Max] simply sounds like she’s having a blast while skipping across bangers like “Kings & Queens” and “Who’s Laughing Now.”

And she upped the ante with Rolling Stone describing her latest album as: “She shows off her signature electro-pop melodies with some Nineties synths and a touch of disco.”

It was a set of pure pop and pure fun with great dancing and an audience enthralled to (finally) see Max on her first tour, which officially ended in Minneapolis. And among the frivolity and glitter there were also messages of empowerment for those girls in the audience like “Maybe You’re the Problem” “Not Your Barbie Girl” and “Kings and Queens”:

To all of the queens who are fighting alone

Baby, you’re not dancin’ on your own

P.S. My apologies for no photos due understandable security concerns, evolving photo policies and my camera setup.