Sometimes it’s possible to separate the art from the emotion that inspired it during a performance. It’s possible to judge the performer on the performance and remove emotion from the situation entirely. 

In the Maintenance Shop on Thursday night, this was completely impossible. Andrea Gibson brought an extraordinary performance of poetry and music to a room that was packed almost to capacity. 

Gibson filled the show with beautifully constructed words about very real topics accompanied by music. The music, while uncomplicated, offered additional dimension to the pieces.

Gibson took the stage with some nerves.

“Let’s start with some love and see if that shakes my nerves off,” Gibson said. 

Throughout the show, the audience played a part in how comfortable Gibson was on stage. Gibson has been performing mostly in larger theaters and they enjoyed being in a more intimate venue like the Maintenance Shop. 

“People were so kind, open, and excited,” Gibson said. “It just felt like we were being held in this space. I haven’t felt that relaxed on stage.”

That first love poem that Gibson performed was part of a larger pattern.

“Here’s how the night’s going to go,” Gibson said. “I’m going to talk about love, then I’m going to talk about fascism. Love, fascism, love, fascism the whole time. Let’s move on to the fascism.”

The topics of Gibson poems covered much more than just love and fascism, however. They also spoke on gender, life, patriarchy, and current events.

One poem was a response to the Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016. It captured so much raw emotion and an determination that was somehow urgent and resigned at the same time.

When the piece ended tears were wiped from faces without shame. Somehow the room held an energy of love and support. Just being there was to be among friends. 

Gibson also performed a piece about their sister and dedicated it to “anyone who has ever loved an addict.”

On a lighter note, Gibson also read a poem that included a line about Iowa. This was not only special because the show was, indeed, in Ames. Gibson said they are friends with all of their ex-girlfriends. The woman Gibson wrote the poem for was in the audience with her mom. 

“I think that’s just so tender,” Gibson said.  

Emotions were also at play when Valin Paige, an Iowa State student opened the show. 

“I could stand up here and tell you about me, but there’s poetry for that,” Paige said. 

She did leave a part of herself on stage. Paige’s poetry touched on topics like, fear, love, and LGBTQ+ issues. One poem she called “queer poetry.”

“It’s about the dangers and fears involved in that and then the pure joy when someone understands you and loves you the way you need to be loved,” Paige said. 

Chasity Brown also helped to start the show. Her set was more focused on music than the other two artists. She came on stage with a guitar and a harmonica. Her set included a song that was “a tender ‘f— you’ to white supremacy.” 

Brown told a story about an experience she had with racist comments and action that made her feel unsafe at a previous show, but a friend stepped up to protect her.

“Threaten my life and all the razors come out,” Brown said. “And the razors come with an enormous amount of love for my community.”

The thing about poetry is that it’s personal. The emotion is the performance and it can impact people in an infinite number of ways. The important thing though is that it impacts. Andrea Gibson’s performance was real and raw, but it was also beautiful and wonderfully executed.

“I want people to leave hopeful,” Gibson said. “I want people to leave excited to make some changes. I want people to leave inspired to make the world kinder and I want people to believe it’s possible.”