This past Friday was the annual Winterfest concert at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center (LC) campus, hosted by the Campus Activities Board. The concert included performances from New York City-based band Queer Theory, DJ Ms. Worldwide and of course the headliner Ashe. The indie singer is recognized for her fun electro-pop sound and funky aesthetics. Perhaps you would recognize her most popular hit “Moral of the Story” as heard in the movie “To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You” or her song “Till Forever Falls Apart” featuring FINNEAS.
Her discography includes three studio albums — “Ashlyn,” “Rae” and “Wilson” —which cleverly spell out her full name. This theme of album titles is fitting, as she mentioned at the LC performance how her musical journey has also been a journey of finding herself. She noted how at the beginning of her career, she had been working through an exhausting divorce, leading to the production of her most streamed song.
In fact, Ashe has been vocal about her mental health, as she took a break from performing in 2023, canceling her tour to take some time off as she did not feel “mentally healthy or resilient enough to go back on tour” (Ashe via Instagram). She did not return to the stage until June 2024, when she joined Niall Horan on stage for a performance of “Moral of the Story” in Saratoga Springs, seeing as Horan was given a feature on it in 2020. This exciting comeback set the tone for her career, and her passion for her music has never been more evident.
Her honesty not only shows itself through her music, however, but her stage persona as well. At Winterfest, she graced the stage with a friendly, candid quality about her, where it was easy to tell she was genuinely delighted about the opportunity to do what she loved in front of a room of people. Dressed in a velvety blue jumpsuit and accessorizing with sunglasses, she jumped onto the stage and started her performance with a bang. Songs like “omw” and “Another Man’s Jeans” kicked off the concert with high energy, instantly getting the crowd on their feet and dancing along with her. Her single “Another Man’s Jeans” effectively personified the time she spent in Nashville during the early days of her career, with its cowbell, country twang feel to it.
Throughout the concert, Ashe played around with the crowd and her band, flipping her hair and leaping from one end of the stage to another. As if her stage presence didn’t make it clear enough, she even declared this was going to be “a very silly show” between songs. After the energetic start, she then moved into more empowering songs like “Emotional” and “Hope You’re Not Happy,” some of her staple break up anthems, and the crowd shouted the lyrics along with her. Not all of her songs are as happy-go-lucky though: she also delved into her emotionally driven songs such as “Pull the Plug” and “Castle,” both decorated with existential but impassioned lyrics.
About halfway through the setlist, Ashe transitioned to the piano and began playing the melody of “I Love You, I’m Sorry” by Gracie Abrams. Soon enough, screams of excitement spread throughout the auditorium as fans began to recognize the cover. In her rendition of the song, she opted up the iconic last note in the bridge to the higher version, and the crowd erupted with applause. But the covers didn’t just end there. In the final third of the show, Ashe performed her single “Running Out of Time” from her most recent album “Wilson,” and transitioned its ending into “Love Story” by Taylor Swift. Once again, the students went wild, jumping up and down at the classic song. Many audience members even acted out the iconic verse of the song where Romeo “knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring.” These setlist additions amped up the fun, creating a lively, lighthearted atmosphere that brought Ashe and the audience closer — because, in the end, we were all just dancing and enjoying the moment together.
By the final few songs of her setlist, everyone was singing along as she saved her biggest, most iconic hits for last. It truly unified the crowd as students were grabbing onto those around them at the line of “there’s nothing more romantic than dying with your friends” in “Till Forever Falls Apart.” And of course, not a soul was quiet during her final song, her iconic “Moral of the Story,” wrapping up her performance with drama and harmony.
Before she started saying her goodbyes, Ashe asked how many members of the audience had seen her before. After realizing most of the room was experiencing her live performance for the first time, she asked with a smile, “Well, did I win you over?” It’s safe to say the crowd’s reaction embodied a resounding yes.
While she only returned to the stage a little over half a year ago, it’s evident that Ashe is ready for a year of performing and connecting with audiences again. Her ability to capture the crowd with her enthusiastic melodies — while keeping them on their toes with unexpected surprise cover songs — perfectly emphasizes her excitement to continue to share her music with the world.
