I have to admit, Daria Zawiałow caught me slightly off guard.
I went into the concert without considering myself a particular fan, and certainly without pretending to know her entire catalogue inside out. What I found, though, was a performer who knows exactly how to make pop music feel alive. There is a definite rock edge running through her songs, enough to give the music some bite without losing the melodies and hooks that make it so accessible.
The atmosphere was good from the start, and Daria Zawiałow seemed genuinely happy to be up there. She threw herself into the performance, the audience responded loudly, and there was a nice exchange of energy between the stage and the crowd. Nothing felt particularly forced. It was simply a musician having a good time and an audience quite happy to give that energy straight back.
What surprised me more was the size of the crowd. Considering how well known Daria Zawiałow is in Poland, I had expected the place to be considerably busier. Perhaps the late hour played a part, or maybe people across the Tri City had decided that a warm Polish summer evening was better spent somewhere outside. Whatever the reason, those who were there certainly did their bit.
Visually, the show had its moments too. The lighting leaned heavily towards blue and violet, sometimes a little too heavily for my taste, but the stage itself was interesting, particularly with the illuminated Japanese signs scattered around it. I was left wondering about their meaning and whether they were connected to a particular idea behind the show. There was clearly something deliberate about the visual language, even if I did not have all the answers.
And then there were the songs.
Some of them were bloody catchy. The sort of catchy that gets under your skin before you have had time to object. I may not have understood every word, but the melodies, arrangements and sheer energy of the performance were more than enough to carry the evening.
So yes, I came away pleasantly surprised. Daria Zawiałow delivered a lively, confident pop concert with enough rock running through its veins to keep me interested, and there was something rather refreshing about discovering an artist outside my usual territory and finding myself enjoying the ride.
