Lizzy McAlpine lyrically reveals everything in Boston

Lizzy McAlpine bared it all in an intimate, emotional performance Friday night in Boston, the city where she experienced heartbreak that inspired nearly every song on her latest album.

The show was the first of two sold-out shows at MGM Music Hall in Fenway on “The Older Tour.”

Despite the full hall, there was a cozy atmosphere with McAlpine’s haunting vocals and the powerful, deep instrumental accompaniment from her and her band.

The indie-folk artist, known for her 2022 hit “Ceilings,” which went viral on TikTok, brought no unnecessary frills — or even an opener — to the show.

Instead, she and her six band members – who played a range of instruments including piano and keyboard, bass, drums and pedal steel guitar, as well as acoustic and electric guitar – sat in a semicircle on a set that resembled a cozy living room.

The seven entered the stage shortly after 8:45 p.m. through a wooden door and sat on chairs surrounded by mood lighting and side tables – one of which featured a flickering candle and a framed portrait of Steve Martin (the famous “Best Fishes” entry from the comedian’s 1978 album “A Wild and Crazy Guy”).

Wearing her hair down, a simple white top, blue jeans and black Converse, McAlpine let her impressive vocal range and heart-wrenching lyrics take center stage. She also played guitar and piano and moved between two different chairs on stage depending on the song.

Over the course of about 100 minutes, McAlpine stripped it down to the essentials and played her latest album, “Older,” mostly in order, with a few of her hits and a few surprises in between.

Much of the lyrics of her third studio album were inspired by “things that happened in this city” when she attended Berklee College of Music a few years ago, the 24-year-old said.

“Drunk, Running,” for example, was “written about an incident that happened with my ex,” she said. “I wasn’t there or present for the incident, but it happened on a street in Boston.”

A songwriter through and through, McAlpine explained that some songs reflect feelings she used to have but may no longer have.

Before performing “All Falls Down,” she explained how much she struggled on her last tour, admitting that the experience was uncomfortable for her and inspired her to write the lyrics.

“This time we’re doing things differently and the music is just very fulfilling,” McAlpine said. “It feels really good and really authentic, so I don’t feel like that’s what this song brings across. I think that’s what’s special about the music. It’s just a moment in time and we can look back on it from a new perspective.”

As for the album’s title track, “Older,” McAlpine revealed that the song was not originally on the track list and was only added three months before the album’s release to replace a song she was unhappy with.

After finding a voice memo on her phone with the first chorus of “Older” recorded in the first person, McAlpine brought it to the band and they wrote the rest in about 20 minutes, she said.

“We did three takes of it and we used the third take. We didn’t add or change anything,” the singer noted.

“It really helped reshape the album in my eyes and it was the first original thing we created together,” McAlpine said of the process with the band. “We mostly produced or reproduced this album. That was the first thing we did together. It felt really good and opened everything up for me.”

McAlpine not only played most of the songs from her latest album, but also some songs from her 2022 album “Five Seconds Flat,” including “Doomsday” and “Chemtrails.”

She also sang a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Lately,” saying, “I discovered this song when I was at Berklee because my ex showed it to me – tonight is all about him, right? I obviously have a lot of memories here.”

Perhaps the most exciting moment, however, was when she surprised the audience with “Spring into Summer,” a new, unreleased song that McAlpine wrote “about an hour before the show.”

The crowd squealed with delight when she explained that she had written one verse a long time ago, but found inspiration while looking through her voice memos on the train to Boston. McAlpine brought the idea to the band backstage before the show, and together they wrote the rest in short order.