Goapele Performs at Music Hall

Thursday night, singer Goapele performed in front of a sold out crowd at the Birchmere Theater in Alexandria, Virginia. Six years after the release of her last album, Goapele has returned to music with a new LP entitled Break of Dawn.

With a host of upcoming performances, members of the Birchmere audience were third in line to witness the exhibition of her new music. Although it started about half an hour late, fans did not seem to mind. Opening with the song "First Love" from her 2005 album Change It All, the audience rose to their feet singing each word along with Goapele.

After that, she performed her most recent single "Play". Engaging the audience in a call and response, Goapele revealed that it made her feel like a teacher in front of her students. "I always wanted to be a teacher", she said. After roughly an hour and a half of entertainment, the crowd went wild after hearing the opening string sequence to what is perhaps Goapele's most popular song, "Closer."

As fans prepared to leave, the band continued to play and Goapele returned for a surprise encore performing classic hits such as Chaka Khan's "Sweet Thing" as well as two more songs from her recent album.

The Hilltop spoke with Goapele about her six-year hiatus, to which she responded, "I wasn't away from music... I just slowed down a little bit". She also stated that during that time she started a family and wanted to spend quality time with them. "I wanted to take my time recording and really just get in the studio when I felt like I had something to say again." When asked what she hoped listeners would take away from her new album, she said, " I want people to feel inspired…I want people to feel something. I want people to strive for what they want in their life, and to heal from anything that's hurting them."