Photo source: angreagibson.org
Earlier in June, Andrea Gibson, the award winning poet and activist, opened up for Gregory Alan Isakov, a singer-songwriter from South Africa, and graced Chicago by stepping up on stage at Thalia Hall despite the anxiety that Gibson openly talks about and frequently experiences. Gibson is a queer poet who also goes by Andrew and uses gender neutral pronouns (they/them). Gibson's poetry focuses on politics, gender norms, social injustices such as LGBTQ struggles, and social reform.
The poet’s performance started off by addressing the crowd about the mass murder that took place at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Gibson then proceeded to go into a delve of heart-wrenching poetry such as Royal Heart and the Nutritionist. Looking around the crowd while Andrea was on stage, it was clear the audience was captivated by Gibson’s words and there were very few dry eyes in the house. With poetry that speaks to the heart, it’s no shock that the award winning poet drew so many into Thalia Hall.
Photo Source: andreagibson.org
When asked for a statement about the performance as a whole, Gibson said, “Thalia Hall is one of my favorite places to perform. The audience is always lovely and open hearted and the venue itself is gorgeous. Opening for Gregory has been an honor and a dream. He is one of my favorite musicians and I fell in love with his music over a decade ago. The show on the 13th was a raw and emotional experience for me, as it was just a couple of days following the Orlando shooting and that was heavy on my heart throughout the performance. It was honestly difficult to speak without crying, but I have always found solace and healing in art so there was nowhere I would have rather been that evening.”
Gibson is a four-time Denver Grand Slam Champion, has finished in fourth at the 2004 National Poetry Slam, finished in third at the Individual World Poetry Slam in 2006 and 207, the first poet to ever win the Women of the World Poetry Slam, published several books of poetry, put out six albums, and has been touring full time for over a decade.
For more information, please visit: http://www.andreagibson.org/