ANN ARBOR, MICH. -- Seats filled as people entered The Ark on Tuesday, Feb. 2 to see singer songwriter Ruth B. (Ruth Berhe) and opener Hailey Knox for The Safe Haven Tour: Part III. This was the third and final part of the tour for her debut album, “Safe Haven,” which was released in 2017.
The lights dimmed at 7:30 as Knox took to the stage; her set consisted of songs off her EP, “A Little Awkward,” which was released in 2016, and her new single, “Don’t Got One.” She also performed mashups of covers including “Crazy Train,” by Ozzy Osbourne, “Crazy In Love” by Beyonce, “Fancy” by Iggy Azalea, “Boyfriend” by Justin Bieber, and “Super Bass” by Nicki Minaj. Her style differed slightly from that of the main act; she used guitar, voice, beatboxing, and rap all together, which gave different layers to her performance.
After Knox opened, there was a brief intermission before Ruth B. came to the stage. Her set began with “Mixed Signals,” which she began by singing offstage and entering from the right exit after a few lines. The rest of the her set consisted of songs off “Safe Haven,” including “Dandelions,” “If This is Love,” “In My Dreams,” etc., as well as from her EP, “The Intro,” including “2 Poor Kids,” “Golden,” and “Superficial Love.” The artist’s songs focused on love, both wholesome and broken. “2 Poor Kids” specifically was the story of two kids Ruth B. saw on the city bus and the love between them despite their circumstances. Her music style is simple pop: just her voice and a keyboard to keep tempo.
Ruth B. ended her set with her most popular song, “Lost Boy,” which was made famous by a Vine she made in 2015 from a line in the chorus, “I am a lost boy from Neverland, usually hanging out with Peter Pan.” In seven days, the six-second clip went viral, and Ruth B. continued to write lyrics and post them to Vine; this lead her to release “The Intro.” The song was based off the story of Peter Pan, which Ruth B. said was one of her childhood favorites. It followed a continuous theme throughout her work of finding acceptance while being true to yourself.
“As we soared above the town that never loved me/I realized I finally had a family”
After performing “Lost Boy,” Ruth B. left the stage, but was welcomed back for an encore; she returned to the stage and invited Knox back up to sing a mashup of “Location” and “Young, Dumb, and Broke” by Khalid with her.
This was Ruth B.’s first time performing in Ann Arbor. At the end of the concert, she concluded by hoping to visit again.