Photos: Noelle Lee
Author: Abby Graham, Anniyah Fitzhugh
The moment Mercer Henderson stepped on stage, there was a sense of ease that foreshadowed her entire set. From the start, she had an extremely strong presence on stage. You could tell she was comfortable with being up on stage, not just standing there but actually performing—moving with the music, connecting with her band, and knowing how to hold the room.
Her voice is what pulls you in first. It’s bright and very pop, but there’s still emotion behind it, which keeps it from feeling surface-level. She makes songs that are easy to listen to, but they still land in a real way. You can hear the feeling in them without it being overdone.
Her set had this kind of late-night summer energy. Not overly upbeat, not super heavy either—just that in-between feeling where everything is a little undetermined. A lot of her songs live in said space, especially her song, “Almost, So Close, Maybe,” where she sings how issues aren’t fully resolved and instead of trying to wrap the story up neatly, she just lets it be what it is.
She played an unreleased song called “Say It Like You Mean It,” and it stood out right away. It’s about being in a relationship that’s clearly ending, but one person is still trying to hold onto it. That awkward middle where nothing is officially over, but you can feel it slipping. The song captured that feeling really well without over explaining it.
She also knew how to shift the energy when she needed to. At one point, she stripped everything back and did a cover of “Man I Need” with just a guitar. It gave her voice more space, and it slayed—it showed how amazing her vocals are even without all the extra layers.
Something that stood out was how she interacted with the people around her. She kept bringing attention to her band, hyping them up and making it feel like a shared performance. She also gave out a guitar pick and a drumstick to fans, which was so sweet
By the end of her set, it didn’t feel like she was just there to open the show. It felt like she added something important to the night, and it was a perfect opening for Ruel.
Abby Graham | Digital Media Directors