“Everyone feeling alive?” said KAINA during her performance Saturday night at the M-Shop. The first generation Latina artist performed with her band, consisting of three Chicago-based musicians: Sen Morimoto on keyboard and saxophone, Ryan the Person on drums and DeJon Cockran on bass.

Performing a variety of songs from her latest album “Next To The Sun,” KAINA kicked the show off with several upbeat singles, like “So Small / So Vast.” 

From the moment she got on stage, KAINA got personal by sharing her college experience.

“Thank you for being here. I know that school is tough,” KAINA said. “Sometimes insensitive to your mental health or your well-being because you just gotta get through it, and I’m proud of you for being in school, if that works for you. I dropped out, but it’s just because it wasn’t for me, so if you’re in school and you’re powering through it, I’m proud of you. I’m glad you’re here. I hope that in tonight’s set, you find a little freedom from your studies.”

The crowd swayed along as KAINA taught them the chorus to the clear crowd favorite, “Honey.” The catchiness of the chorus allowed the audience to catch on and join in on the singing. 

Sen Morimoto also performed his songs “Butterflies” and his collaboration with KAINA, “Could Be a Curse.” The song “Could be A Curse” was co-written by the two artists and reflected on a bad day they were both having. The trilingual track consisting of English, Spanish and Japanese set a tranquil mood contrasting with the quick tempo of “Butterflies.” 

Vulnerability and authenticity were KAINA’s strong suits in terms of gauging the crowd. As the night came to an end, she spoke about her identity and her feelings about the upcoming Iowa caucuses. She is met with affirmation and applause after saying, “Most importantly, whatever, whoever you believe in, I hope you go out there, you vote, tell your friends and family to vote. A lot of this stuff directly affects all of us 100 percent all the time, so with that being said — I am a first [generation] Latina. I have parents who came here, didn’t have much, and thanks to them, I get to be here and sing for you. I made this my career.” 

The Latin inspired track “Green” provided a perfect closer to her set. KAINA encouraged the audience to shake their hips and dance along to the kind of music she grew up dancing to: salsa. 

“Green is about trusting yourself as much as you trust systems, what you know,” KAINA said. “We tend to not trust how people move or systems or governments, and we tend to question our own feelings and our intuition at times. So Green is about trusting yourself and what you know because that’s always best.”