There are a lot of people who know Rachel Platten as “the ‘Fight Song’ girl.” But she has a larger story to tell. On her latest tour, she’s determined to share it.
Celebrating the release of her 2024 album “I Am Rachel Platten,” Platten played a show at Lincoln Hall in Chicago on Friday, April 18, as a part of her “Set Me Free” tour.
“It’s funny — when I went in to make this record, it really wasn’t for anyone else,” Platten told The DePaulia. “It already is a triumph, this record, because it healed me, and … it did what it was supposed to do.”
After the breakout success of her 2015 song “Fight Song,” Platten said there was a lot of pressure on her second album to follow up the hit.
“I felt like I was wearing this heavy crown of, like, I have to be encouraging and optimistic and excited,” Platten said. “The truth is I am that, sometimes, but I’m also so many more things.”
Platten said for years she struggled balancing those two sides, but that “I Am Rachel Platten” was the record she felt she was finally making for herself.
“I had to really do a lot of work, because the music industry can be a motherf—er,”” Platten said. “I had to learn, like, what am I doing this for again? Oh yeah, I’m doing this because I’m just a little kid that loves to play, because I’m meant to do this in this world. And I’m gonna do it whether five people are listening or 50,000 people are listening.”
When Platten turned her focus to healing — which included therapy and a lot of introspection — that’s when the songs on “I Am Rachel Platten” came easiest.
“I am a mom now, and I feel terror and rage and grief, but also joy and light and love — I’m all of it,” Platten said. “I think the record reflects all of it.”
The record features one song, “Bad Thoughts,” which incorporates breathwork in between lyrics chronicling Platten’s struggles with mental health. She said didn’t write the songs to release but instead as a healing exercise for herself.
“I was writing this music from such a broken place. … I needed these songs,” Platten said. “These songs were for me. … These songs were my answer, my medicine.”
On tour, Platten and her team built a set designed to resemble her studio at home, with fuzzy rugs and blankets covering the stage and small lamps and (battery-powered) candles clustered on the floor.
Erin Wala attended the Lincoln Hall show with her wife Amanda Downs.
“One of our daughters loves ‘Fight Song,’ of course,” Wala said. “But we also have listened to her new stuff, and I really like the song ‘I Know.’”
Wala and Downs have been fans for years and attended the show on a date night.
“Our kids were making fun of us,” Wala said, laughing.
Many of the concertgoers expressed excitement about hearing Platten’s new songs, but Platten said prior to this tour, she hadn’t played many of them live for fans.
“It’s been really amazing to see the reactions in person,” Platten said. “I had done so much promo, but … I hadn’t done something where I was in front of my actual fans, experiencing them, experiencing the music and seeing them sing the words back to me.”
Another concertgoer and longtime fan, Kayla Fluegeman, attended with her fiance, who bought her show tickets for her birthday.
“She’s such an amazing person,” Fluegeman said of Platten. “Her music is just so easy to connect with. I’m super hyped.”
Before the show, Fleugeman had a message for Platten.
“I don’t know if Rachel Platten is gonna hear this,” Fleugeman said. “But I’m getting married in 36 days. She’s invited — it’s gonna be in Valparaiso, Indiana.”
After performances by openers Ben Abraham and Jojo Dodge, the many children in the room wove toward the front of the crowd and Platten began her set.
Platten performed a combination of old and new songs and brought a warmth and excitement to the room. During the breathwork instructions of “Bad Thoughts,” the entire room inhaled and exhaled in time with the music.
There were tears, jokes and hugs. When Platten swore, she quickly covered her mouth and apologized to the kids in the audience.
At the end of the show, Platten performed her hit “Fight Song,” then brought out her entire crew to sing together.
It summed up what Platten called a newfound “freedom.”
“I feel a real excitement bubbling up lately, and I haven’t felt this hopefulness in some time,” Platten said. “Since this tour and realizing how much incredible support I have from the village around me at home, … I’m feeling this real hope and joy bubble up. Like, wow, there are so many possibilities ahead of me.”
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