A Musical Odyssey of Glitter, Comedy, and Belonging: RIZO at Joe’s Pub

Written By Leah Dunn

Grammy Award winning RIZO uses her trademark blend of songs, stories, performance art, comedy, and glamor to explore the nature of home and how it informs our identity. In her latest show she reflects on returning to her home state of Oregon, and the land of her art-hippie childhood from living in New York City and traveling internationally for over 15 years. Havurah’s Music Director Leah Dunn, reviews RIZO’s performance at Joe’s Pub. 

RIZO at Joe’s Pub April 11-13, 2024 Poster

On Friday April 12, 2024 I walked over from my Shabbat Dinner to Joe’s Pub. After alerting the venue beforehand that I wouldn’t have my phone, they gladly had old-school paper tickets available for me at willcall. I walked up the sprawling staircase on Lafayette Street and entered the venue to the left of the atrium. Two tiers of low-lit rounded tables, each with wooden cafe chairs, a candle, and a cocktail menu hosted the concert-goers there to see RIZO perform. I turned to the woman next to me, not knowing what to expect from the show, and she told me she had flown in from North Carolina just for RIZO. I knew a performer with such loyal fans would be well worth watching.

The lights dimmed and RIZO stepped on stage in a shimmering long white gown. She looked 10 feet tall. She was standing on a raised platform hidden underneath the skirt of her dress. She opened with a Jazz-infused theatrical yet intimate rendition of The Talking Heads, “This Must be the Place,” and I was hooked. Following a quick change, on stage I might add, into a silvery sequined jumpsuit and a sip from her drink on the edge of the keyboard, RIZO continued into “Where is My Mind” by the Pixies. 

“The audience had fallen in love, and the show could have ended right there.”

I had just been listening to Doolittle and Surfer Rosa earlier that day, so I was skeptical as to how she would pull off one of the most frequently covered rock songs. Until she sang the line “Way out in the water see it swimming,” into “Somewhere over the rainbow.” She had so effortlessly weaved together two seemingly disparate songs and genres into a coherent performance. She transitioned back into the final Pixies chorus by singing “That’s where you’ll find me // With your feet in the air and your head in the ground.” The audience had fallen in love, and the show could have ended right there.

RIZO by Solange Igoa

She continued for the next hour to captivate the audience alternating between covers and original music, by throwing glitter on the front row, monologuing about her upbringing on the Oregon coast, and even walking off the stage into the crowd to look each audience member in the eye.

“Bringing vaudevillian styles of music into a modern context, RIZO leans into both the Jewish cultural and comedic tendencies throughout her act without any sense of apology.” 

Of her childhood, she spoke of her parents’ house and the “always open to anyone” values they cultivated. In my mind, this resembled an almost 24/7 extension of the Shabbat Table. She went on to discuss the past traumas and the inner work she’d done with her Jewish lesbian therapist from New York. Bringing vaudevillian styles of music into a modern context, RIZO leans into both the Jewish cultural and comedic tendencies throughout her act without any sense of apology. 

This self-assured fearlessness is my only explanation for what happened next. While out crowdworking the audience, RIZO invited a woman in a jean jacket to slow-dance with her. After a song had passed, RIZO went back into monologuing explaining that the only way to jumpstart her emotional healing and exorcize the ghosts of her past was for this slow-dancing jean-jacket-wearing audience member to slap her clean across the face. The jean-jacket-woman’s response was too timid for her to have been an audience plant. But after much cheering from the crowd, and three separate attempts, the jean-jacket-woman slapped RIZO point blank across the face. The audience cheered, and she and RIZO embraced. 

RIZO by Solange Igoa

RIZO climbed back onto the stage and continued her set, a new woman. Finally she dawned a shawl made from tens of pieces of multi-colored fabric ranging from orange to magenta resembling a phoenix’s wings, and began to sing David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream.” Watching the chanteuse perform the song, she used a full range of motion, both choreographically and vocally. She sang drawn out high notes full of power and stamina that can only be gained through years of experience. With a final “Freak out in a Moonage Daydream, Oh Yeah,” the lights went out and the phoenix walked off the stage.

“Such graciousness is the mark of a true professional, and an artist who genuinely cares.”

RIZO waited in the Atrium of Joe’s Pub to chat, and to sign merch for anyone who wanted an autograph. Such graciousness is the mark of a true professional, and an artist who genuinely cares. RIZO’s expertly blended musical styles throughout the night, paired with her courageous and intimate connection with the audience, left Joe’s Pub captivated and fulfilled that Shabbat night. 

Leah Dunn

Music Director, Havurah

Leah Dunn is an audio engineer, producer, and recording artist. She joined as the music director of Havurah in the Summer of 2022. After attending high school at Interlochen Arts Academy when she studied songwriting, the Bay Area native is currently pursuing a BFA at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. Her most recent album “Calendar Collection” was released as 12 singles over the course of 2022, and is available along with her other releases “Wetsuit,” and “Oakland,” on all streaming platforms.

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