By: Tim Wilmes ~Staff Writer~

Xavier’s LGBTQ Alliance and Student Activities Council (SAC) co-sponsored the Mary Lambert concert on April 10 in Conaton Board Room as part of LGBTQ Alliance Week at the university. Around 40 students gathered in an intimate setting and listened to the singer, songwriter, spoken word artist and LGBTQ activist per­form her original works and talk about her personal experiences.

Lambert, a 24-year-old Seattle native, is best known for her song “She Keeps Me Warm,” featured in the critically-acclaimed song “Same Love,” performed in 2013 as a collaboration between Lambert and rap artist Macklemore and producer Ryan Lewis. She can be heard throughout the song.

This song was performed a lit­tle more than halfway through the concert, a result of the artist stat­ing that she did not like to keep set lists and instead sought to play from what was in her heart.

Lambert’s spontaneity certainly showed and was very effective. She was genuine and candid with the audience in telling stories and expressing her honest opinion in between each song.

Some of the most moving pieces from the evening came in Lambert’s three spoken word performances, particularly in “I Know Girls,” a poem about young women feeling pressure to conform to societal expectations about the way they look.

Each piece, whether song or spoken word, was rooted in a very real social issue, sometimes clearly based on Lambert’s own life experiences.

After one particularly moving piece about the rape of a young woman, Lambert finished playing the piano, looked up amidst the silent, chilled audience members and said, “Thank you for letting yourselves be vulnerable.”

The almost tangible sig­nificance of each performance coupled with Lambert’s strong voice captivated the audience and ultimately created a meaningful show.

The Alliance, which put on the concert coinciding with oth­er events throughout the week, viewed the concert as a success and was very appreciative of the support.

“We were so thankful to have SAC’s expertise at con­cert planning to help this event run smoothly,” Senior Club Vice President Sam Meza said.