The Liminal Space Tour found its home in Phoenix on Friday night, with mxmtoon and Luna Li gracing The Van Buren with their collective presence. The indie pop singers drew a dedicated audience to the iconic Arizona room and created an environment of light, positivity and free expression.
Between songs and slight technical difficulties, Luna Li asked her audience for Arizona activity recommendations before returning to her tranquil set. Backed by her bassist and drummer, Li also played a multitude of instruments, including flute, violin and guitar. Her performance was charming and relaxed, with fans shouting their love at the stage and Li returning those sentiments throughout her set.
Maia- better known by her stage name mxmtoon- built her own world on The Van Buren’s stage and emerged in a blaze of light to start the set by jumping from the melancholia of “dramatic escape” right into “i hate texas”. The diminutive singer put on her Friday best and bounced around the stage, grinning happily at the fans’ response to her upbeat songs. Her viral hit “prom dress” was played on ukelele to great fanfare from the audience and the energy was high for the rest of the night.
Mxmtoon is joy personified and she enters every show visibly thrilled to be performing for such an enthusiastic crowd. Instead of heckling, fans shouted “slay!” at every opportunity and the night felt like a conversation between friends rather than a line of demarcation between artist and fans. It’s been several years since her last visit to Arizona but now that she has a new album to celebrate, fans are certainly hoping that Phoenix stays on her list of places to visit for years to come.
