For casual Raveena listeners, she has all the makings of an annoyingly optimistic friend.
You know, the one who clears your shared patio to charge their crystals under a specific moonlight. Or the one who knows more about your astrological chart data than you and reminds you every chance they get. How about the one that has handwritten affirmations on sticky notes littered around y’all’s apartment that clash with its decor?
Well, what a novice dismisses as “annoyingly optimistic,” devoted fans have explained away as…Raveena is a fairy. Yop. yop. Although the “If Only” singer was not quite Myaap’s inspiration for her viral tune, Raveena certainly embodies its popularized pull quote. Well, at least that is what has remained at the forefront of my mind since Raveena’s Where The Butterflies Tour In The Rain twirled through Brooklyn.
Following a three-year headlining hiatus, Raveena brought her mystical, magical music and whimsical essence to Brooklyn Steel in New York on May 17. Just shy of the supporting album’s (Where The Butterflies Go In The Rain) one-year anniversary, 1,800 folks broke free from their conformity cocoons to frolic among their evolved, equally ethereal counterparts. Since I’ve been tasked with defining the two-hour performance, here it is: Raveena’s Where The Butterflies Tour In The Rain is a show enriched by tenacious tenderness.
In all instances of tenderness, vulnerability is an unavoidable requirement for Raveena’s Where The Butterflies Tour In The Rain that remained true. As Raveena glided across the stage to open her set with “We Should Move Somewhere Beautiful,” her motives are not yet clear. But by the time she is lit with delicate fairy lights in front of a microphone wrapped in an alluring floral arrangement, you are emotionally disarmed and ready to receive what Raveena is belting out. By the time she makes it to “Temptation,” “Close 2 U,” and “Smile For Me,” you come to accept that your jaded, pessimistic ways are not walls of protection, but bars blocking you from life’s most valuable element–fearless love.
Her flattering yet flowing stage wear and gracefully sharp choreography underscored Raveena’s endearment of her Indian Punjabi culture. The show’s periodic crowd check-in and guided meditation break honored her healing Reiki lineage. Raveena’s tangents about her off-peak excursions, which include long hikes and spontaneous bonding moments with nature, were not scripts to help run down the clock. They were breadcrumbs for any wayward wonders searching for the true meaning of life–to love and be love, no matter how difficult outside forces make it.
Raveena’s appreciation for life, culture, family, and the world around her is obvious. Still, it was not until I was forced to tune the world out during her Where The Butterflies Tour In The Rain stop in Brooklyn that I realized her music’s most important purpose. The thread tying together 2017’s Shanti, 2019’s Lucid, 2022’s Asha’s Awakening, and 2024’s Where The Butterflies Go In The Rain was its mission to combat the negative narrative plaguing romantic love.
As an album, Where The Butterflies Go In The Rain is about the power held within a pause, according to Raveena. Where The Butterflies Tour In The Rain, on the other hand, is a poignant statement emphasizing the vigor vulnerability demands. Raveena’s records “Still Dreaming,” “Lose My Focus,” “Nectar,” and “Honey” paint a complete picture of romantic love’s highs and lows. It is easy to retreat after heartbreak or to avoid ever experiencing it by burning your romance draft card.
However, as Raveena sings, “Love you make me feel it / Fantasy world in my room /
Six doves flying over / Waterfall falling through my roof, We are water and roses, I need you like I need air / Spoonful of sugar / My cup is fuller when you’re there,” you can’t help but feel the reward far outweighs the risk.
Where The Butterflies Tour In The Rain is for the lovers. Those who understand, acknowledge, and accept the responsibilities of intimacy interconnectivity. Just as Raveena flows from vocalist, performer, and multi-instrumentalist on stage when necessary, so does everyone surrounding Raveena. Dancers become her backing bandmates, and attendees volunteer as onstage entertainment. We serve many roles in this lifetime. Unfortunately, far too many folks have abandoned their jobs as lovers for reasons Raveena doesn’t see as justifiable. With every lyric, movement, and instrumental note, Where The Butterflies Tour In The Rain attempts to break free the unabashed lover buried deep inside of concertgoers.
What users online have coined as “delusion girlie music” is essentially the “annoyingly optimistic friend” label applied to R&B singers who are brave enough to lead with love. Artists such as Summer Walker, Mariah The Scientist, and Raveena wear their hearts on their sleeves. In the past, it was once celebrated in the genre. Sadly, this generation of certified lover girls isn’t encouraged for their fearlessness. Instead, they are chastised for having faith in love, with each stop, Where The Butterflies Tour In The Rain exhibits a tenacious tenderness that guides concertgoers back onto the healed path of emotional wholeness.
Raveena’s latest album Where The Butterflies Go In The Rain is available on digital streaming platforms Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Tidal.
Do you want more of Raveena? Stay connected with her on your preferred social media platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook.
Setlist
- “We Should Move Somewhere Beautiful”
- “Pluto”
- “Mystery”
- “Kismet”
- “Temptation”
- “Close 2 U”
- “Smile For Me”
- “Mama”
- “Still Dreaming”
- “Lose My Focus”
- “Nectar”
- “Honey”
- “Kehna Hi Kya” (K. S. Chithra & A. R. Rahman cover)
- “Junebug”
- “Secret”
- “Asha’s Kiss”
- “Water”
Guided Meditation
- “Floating”
- “Baby Mama”
- “(At Your Best) You Are Love” (The Isley Brothers cover)
- “Lucky”
- “If Only”
- “Headaches”
- “Rise”
Encore
25. “Stronger”
