Tate McRae
3Arena, Dublin
★★★★☆
“The girls, gays and theys” may not be a phrase that appears in The Irish Times all that often, but it’s essential for describing the audience at 3Arena on Friday for the first of Tate McRae‘s two nights at the venue.
Even if you haven’t heard of the Canadian singer-songwriter and dancer, you’ll have definitely heard a few of her hits on TikTok. Outside the arena, most people are wearing some form of hockey or American football jersey – a signature style among her fans.
Inside, an impressive stage has been configured, with moving platforms, a T-shaped extension into the standing pit, scaffolding and two huge yellow cranes. While it’s just the standard set-up for the singer’s Miss Possessive world tour, one can’t help but feel it fits right in down at Dublin’s docks.
McRae, who made a name for herself through YouTube, puts on a pretty impressive show, as do her team of dancers, who show off their polished choreography during songs such as Revolving Door, when they glide – you guessed it – revolving doors around McRae as she sings and dances.
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Make no mistake: she can hold her own, too, such as when she skips around the stage alone, dancing as if no one is watching while singing She’s All I Wanna Be.
We see an intimate side to this performer as she is lifted up on a platform at the back of the standing area, giving those in the tiers above an incredible, almost eye-level view as the main lights come on and they find themselves looking straight at the singer as she smiles back.
During this sequence McRae swaps her leotards and short shorts for a long, flowy skirt, which she jokes about getting caught in while sitting down at a keyboard. She treats us to a trip down memory lane as she sings some of her earliest YouTube material, going as far back as One Day, which she wrote when she was 13. She talks to the audience quite a lot too: a treat for long-standing fans.
After a few olés from the crowd we’re snapped back into star mode as the dancers perform an ode of sorts to Cell Block Tango, from the musical Chicago. This vibe sums up the show: sexy, fun and powerful.
The final part of the night consists of the real TikToky songs, Exes and Greedy, and McRae and her team give us one last perfectly put together routine amid a rainfall of confetti.
This show is so impressive that it almost feels wasted in an arena rather than a stadium. McRae definitely has the stage presence, and the moves, to prove herself among the pop girlies.
