Living a Disco Life

I’m grateful for a lot of things my parents have done for me over the years: giving me life, for starters, giving me a home, providing for me. But one thing I’m just as grateful for is introducing me to Say She She: a female trio from NYC, reviving the 1970s funk and disco sound of NYC.

I love this genre of music, and have been a fan of Say She She for well over a year now, always saying how desperate I was to see them live. And I remember the exact moment I saw their tour announcement for the UK. I was sat in the airport and 1AM, waiting for my suitcase and to go back home. I opened Instagram, and it was the first thing I saw. I got tickets the next day!

The group were playing the O2 Institute in Birmingham, a favourite venue for me, but when we walked in, at around half 7, my heart sank. The room was empty. There was around 35 of us in there, and I was honestly baffled, because Say She She always deserve a huge crowd, and I knew that they’d sold out other shows.

Luckily, as the support band began their set, the room soon started to fill out, and the stalls ended up being packed!

I didn’t catch the name of the supporting act, but they were pretty good! The band consisted of a girl on lead vocals, and three guys on guitars and bass, who also sang. The unique thing about them was that they had no drummer. Instead, they had their MacBook sitting on a stool, playing drum and dance beats. It was so creative, and I’ve never seen another band use their laptops to play beats like that! I’ve tried searching everywhere to see what they’re called, but I can’t see any of sign of them! If any of you guys know who they were, please enlighten me.

Say She She opened with ‘Forget Me Not,’ and as soon as they started singing, they completely took my breath away. Their vocals are already astounding, but live, they’re even better! I didn’t think that was possible!

They played an even mix of songs from their newest album, ‘Cut and Rewind,’ as well as some of their older music, and even some covers. My favourite song of all time is the 1973 disco track ‘I Believe in Miracles’ by the Jackson Sisters, introduced to me by my dad. One day, he played me Say She She’s cover of it, and I fell in love with it! I was over the moon to find out they would be playing it on their set, as there’s no other way I’ll ever be able to hear it live. The girls stressed that during the song, they didn’t want the audience to watch them, but instead all dance together, and that’s exactly what I did! It was an amazing experience; I think the majority of people were dancing in there!

I had goosebumps the entire time, during every song. I can’t comprehend how the girls can keep up those vocals, non-stop, for about 90 minutes. And it was non-stop too, because they didn’t really take any breaks to interact with the crowd. It was like a full on disco!

Piya on lead vocals stood out to me the most- her voice is absolutely gorgeous. But, it is clear that Say She She were made for each other. Their voices blend together so smoothly, and fit together as if they were perfect jigsaw pieces. I genuinely couldn’t name you another group that have this gift. And one song that showcased the girls’ skill the most was ‘Reeling.’ I love the song’s ability to highlight Sabrina and Nya’s vocal range: which is incredible, by the way. They create the most unified harmonies- they’re hypnotising.

My dad commented on how happy I was the whole night, and he was right. I haven’t enjoyed myself as much as that at a concert in so long! I could’ve danced forever.

Say She She are one of the most empowering girl groups I’ve seen, and they do an impeccable job of preserving that distinct 1970s “discodelic” sound that will keep you addicted. ‘Cut and Rewind’ is the perfect example of this, and is arguably one of the best albums of 2025.