Last week, Birmingham native Waxahatchee made a stop in Atlanta at Variety Playhouse for their tour behind last year’s Saint Cloud. It’s always a special kind of exciting when you get to see an artist perform live for the first time, and Waxahatchee lived up to every expectation you’d have from listening to their records; it was a similar experience to Katie Crutchfield’s set at Pitchfork Festival that we covered, in that the payoff for waiting through the pandemic was completely worth it for everyone in attendance.
Nashville-based songwriter Katy Kirby opened the show and immediately grabbed the audience’s attention with her effervescent vocals and unique songwriting prowess that has put her 2021 debut Cool Dry Place on many critics’ best-of lists. Kirby’s skill as a singer-songwriter is something truly special — through songs like “Juniper” and “Traffic!”, her songs unfurl in a way that seems as effortless as breathing. Keep an eye on her as she moves through the year and jumps on tour with illuminati hotties next year.
Following Katy Kirby’s set, there was a noticeable shift in the house music as the members of Waxahatchee quietly filed on stage. Each took a place on stage behind a mic stand adorned with red roses, followed by Katie as she floated on stage in a white dress that looked almost heavenly, flowing with her movements as she took center stage. With a brief smile at the audience, she launched into “Oxbow”, the opening track from Saint Cloud. The energy in the crowd and onstage only grew as the night went on, with fans singing along loudly to the highlights of Saint Cloud (“Arkadelphia” and “Fire” received some of the biggest sing-a-longs of the night) and a remarkable cover of Bonny Doon’s (her talented backing band’s) “Long Wave”. Check out our photo coverage of Waxahatchee’s set below, and check tickets for the rest of her tour here:
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