Frances Whitney Brings An Evening of Sweet Respite To Los Angeles
los angeles, california - january 29th, 2025
A midweek pick-up is always needed, and Frances Whitney provided just that last Wednesday at The Moroccan Lounge in Los Angeles. The singer-songwriter’s most recent EP release Old Hobbies is rich with diaristic confessionals about releasing toxic pastimes and a season of relearning herself. Embarking on an OLD HOBBIES Tour in San Francisco, Brooklyn, and Toronto, the Los Angeles date ended up rescheduled after the city faced harrowing destruction this past month due to the series of fires.
Photo via Frances Whitney.
In light of such events, it was all the more evident that the people of LA needed an evening of solace, unity, and safety. Just after 7 p.m., the venue tucked in the corner of the Arts District slowly flooded with sweet, lively chatter and the clinking of beer glasses. The impeccable artist Emory opened the night and quickly charmed the room with her original music and a heart-shattering cover of “Teardrops On My Guitar” by Taylor Swift. A glowing Frances Whitney finally stepped toward center stage at 8 p.m. with an acoustic guitar slung across her body, an arrival that instantly ignited a round of eager cheers.
“Well hello! My name is Frances Whitney, and thank you guys for being here and braving this traffic,” expressed the singer with pure gratitude. “Obviously we’re in chaotic times, so I appreciate every one of you for showing up.” She dove headfirst into the deep end with the intimate track “Orion,” a song about walking alongside her best friend’s dark season. Her raw performance sharply struck a chord amongst the crowd, each lyric painting a picture of a delicate and fierce love for her friend: “What if you and I walked to the beach? / And didn’t do one thing / Not ‘til the evening / Would your brain give you reprieve / If we swam in the ocean.” Having created a following through social media, it was beautiful to see Whitney in an environment her listeners are all familiar with– hypnotizing vocals led by lush guitar strums.
“I keep thinking ‘Okay, we’ll get a happy one next’ but we got a couple more sad ones” she joked. “Biggest Fan” came next, a cathartic release, yet heartbreaking realization of idolizing the other person in a relationship. Whitney’s vocals are rare, skillfully crystal clear, showcasing tones that can only be developed over time and with passion.
Although Whitney grew up in The Bay Area, her move to Southern California shines through both her work and her sentiment towards the city. “I think LA is magical, and I know LA is hurting so much right now. And we are all hurting in our own ways,” she expressed before following with a captivating Dawes cover of “Time Spent in Los Angeles” to pay tribute. “I have loved this song since I was in high school.” A tender moment like this one proved that the feelings that emerge at a live concert transcend whatever someone is going through outside of the venue’s four walls.
This cover wasn’t the only one that snuck its way into her setlist, as Whitney slipped in Tom Petty and The Heartbreaker’s infamous anthem “I Won’t Back Down.” “It is a song about resilience, and it is a song about bravery and persistence,” she said to the crowd. “And I think LA is gonna need that for years as we rebuild.” For the duration of the song, voices from all different ages blended in unison to the timeless classic.
Sentimental reflections oozed into the room with fan favorites like “Past Life” and “Twenty Something.” The love and support for the singer was tangible during these tracks, and you could tell that it was from Whitney’s close friends and family who showed up in full. Little shoutouts to her muses behind the songs were thrown out, and hollers from her loved ones stood out like sore thumbs, to which Whitney would jokingly roll or eyes or chuckle at. “They’re saying there’s flash floods / I’m stoned on the highway / Gripping the wheel” Whitney hums into the mic—an unreleased track about Whitney gaining a newfound purpose and zeal for life one evening while driving in heavy rain.
Whitney’s overflow of care and support for LA was felt with each song the rest of the evening, but there was a particularly special moment that marked the show as unforgettable. “A couple of months ago, my friend Luke Steinfeld and I did a total run and gun, zero-budget music video. And we ran around the west side of LA with a camcorder in the Bluffs and the Palisades, and it was just a normal, sunny Sunday.” With such special footage left over, Whitney premiered the stitched clips from that day as her music video for “Something I Wanted” as an homage to the Pacific Palisades.
Closing the curtain with the namesake track of her new EP “Old Hobbies,” Whitney’s show was exactly what LA needed—a time of respite through the gift of music. It’s in seasons like these that make an artist’s job so powerful and otherworldly, and the singer cultivated an environment that had each individual fully present and fully seen.
Be sure to keep up with Frances Whitney on Instagram, TikTok, and Spotify, and listen to her new EP Old Hobbies now streaming on all platforms.
