Donning my worn Bewitched Tour hoodie and the exact pair of jeans I wore to watch Laufey in concert on Oct. 2023 in a 600-person capacity venue, I drove to see my first-ever film in an IMAX theater.
IMAX is credited as “The World’s Most Immersive Movie Experience” due to its unique widescreen cinematographic format. However, instead of a typical IMAX movie like Interstellar or Oppenheimer, I went to experience a complete immersion into Laufey’s A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl, the musician’s first concert film.
Although I attended both the Bewitched Tour in Oct. 2023 and the Goddess Tour in April, I wasn’t able to attend her monumental concert at the sold-out Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California, containing 17,500 seats for a live audience. Additionally, it was her first concert with the famed Los Angeles Philharmonic, an orchestra renowned as one of the best in the world.
Wanting to relive the magic I felt on two separate occasions, accompanied by an incredible orchestra, I knew that I absolutely had to see this film as soon as possible.
Thankfully, the experience was everything I expected and more.
Firstly, the picture is directed by Sam Wrench, a director who has only ever worked on live music movies. His most famous work is the box-office blockbuster Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, as well as the recent A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter holiday special streaming on Netflix. With his expertise guiding the project, I had no doubt of its greatness overall.
A fun touch to begin the cinematic experience was a round of Laufey-inspired trivia before the movie began. With the instrumentals from Laufey’s most popular song, “From The Start,” in the background, a template filled the screen with around five questions about Laufey and her music. I, being the fangirl I am, proudly got them all correct.
As the film unfolded, I was reminded of my lovely experience watching Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour due to its similar cinematography and directorial choices. Both began with an opening shot of beautiful Los Angeles at golden hour, perfectly setting the scene for two career-defining performances from each artist, respectively.
Per usual, Laufey blew me away with her stunning vocals and instrumental skills, from orchestrating two cello solos complete with vibrato technique to belting out the lyrics to “Goddess,” all while playing a complex melody on the piano.
In addition to her talents as an artist, I adored the clothing she adorned for her special night. She wore two outfits, completing a costume change in the intermission between the part of the concert with and the part without the LA Phil. For the first part of her set, she elegantly wore a black Chanel blouse and skirt from their Spring 2020 collection, along with Chanel boots colored with light blue and black. For her mainstay performance with the Phil, she wore an Erdem blush pink bow-tie dress, complete with Louboutin silver ballerina shoes and crystal floral bow earrings from Margaux Studios. Altogether, her style elevated her production with an added touch of whimsy and delight.
Along with Laufey’s elite style choices, the multiple camera angles taken to encapsulate the entire stadium helped to enhance the film to maximum effect. There were shots of fans in the crowd as they sang along with smiles on their faces as well as many of the incredible musicians in the LA Phil. In between songs, angles of the Los Angeles skyline and the Bowl magnified the impact of one of Laufey’s largest concerts to date. Of course, the cameras mainly focused on Laufey and her magnetic stage presence.
Although she admitted that she was incredibly nervous for the night, her true personality shone through the entire movie. As the night progressed, her shy facade melted away, and soon she was cracking jokes, telling anecdotes, and dancing while singing. She looked completely in her element—singing her heart out at her dream venue for a sold-out crowd of Lauvers.
My favorite shot of the movie was during the first verse of “Goddess,” Laufey’s most vocally powerful song. For this track, she plays a grand piano, the perfect instrument to accompany her honest refrain. To open the song, the camera focused on Laufey’s reflection in the lid of the piano. For some, this may seem like a random creative choice, but the shot has a secret hidden meaning. In “Goddess,” Laufey mournfully sings of a past person she was in a relationship with who dated her for her public image as a singer instead of a normal person. The reflection shot emulates this message by illustrating the dual sides of who Laufey is: both a celebrity singer and a woman who wants to be loved.
I wasn’t expecting any behind-the-scenes footage from this feature due to the nature of concert films, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that Laufey incorporated aspects of a documentary as well. Between her set without the LA Phil and with their performance, Laufey took her Cadillac out for a drive in the hills of Los Angeles, reminiscing on her time in the City of Stars and how her dreams have finally come true. In true La La Land cinematic fashion, the entire scene was in black and white, and some portions were shot in an old-timely film reel format. In snippets throughout the motion picture, Laufey paid homage to her family and her past while simultaneously looking forward to her future.
To wrap up her monumental set, fireworks lit up the night sky, highlighting the rolling landscape of Los Angeles and marking the end of the singer’s most cardinal performance yet.
Partly thanks to the IMAX screening, I felt as if I was at the concert myself. With the stunning cinematography, documentary elements, and, of course, Laufey’s star power, I might as well have been in the crowd, dancing along to some of my favorite songs. I loved each and every second, as the movie allowed me to reminisce on my previous experiences watching Laufey on tour. For both new and original fans alike, Laufey’s A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl is a wonderful experience.
