Waxahatchee
The Fox Theater
2807 Telegraph Ave, Oakland
May 18, 2024
To hear Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee wallop a crowd with her full-bodied wail of a voice and her plaintive, keening songs is to recognize you’re in the presence of an undeniable powerhouse. As she stepped onstage with her band to a sold-out crowd at the Fox Theater in Oakland, whoops rose up in appreciation and adulation.
“I’ve played here at the Fox a hundred times opening up for people,” she said, “but this is my first time headlining.”
The crowd cheered gratefully. We all knew it wouldn’t be her last, unless she moves on to bigger venues.
Even the quiet moments felt loud, in the best way.
Starting her set off with “3 Sisters,” also from Tigers Blood, she took the song from a quiet plea to an out-and-out, shimmering stunner. “If you’re not livin’, then you’re dying/ Just a raw nerve satisfying,” she belted out, as the drums and guitars crashed around her. And with the punch she packs, you wholeheartedly believe her.
Crutchfield formed her current project in 2010, named after Waxahatchee Creek in Alabama. Crutchfield made a name for herself with her lo-fi indie rock, the kind you record on cassette tapes and bring from a bedroom studio to the local bars. But her voice and ambition, singularly beautiful and devastating, grew beyond those walls.
Live, she doesn’t sing her songs so much as she radiates her heart out into space, so expansive that it’s lovely to behold. People say it’s Taylor Swift for the ramshackle rock crowd, but when I hear her, I hear the eloquence of Lucinda Williams with the pop resonance of The Chicks.
Her latest album, Tigers Blood, released this year, has twangy melodies with fanged lyrics, like on “Evil Spawn”:
“If we stand out in some wild city street
Dodging every car, every thief and disease
Catching tiny crumbs in the heartless breeze
Say we’re tough as nails, say we’re both naive.”
With the stage lit up with ‘70s style arches, reminiscent of the Grand Ole Opry, Crutchfield went full electric for most of the show. But she’s no Judas. She still managed to hit every note and emotion like she was sliding a shot glass across the bar, directly towards your outstretched hand. Her voice and the full arrangement of her songs were gorgeous to hear live. It was stunning to hear the beauty and passion of her voice in person; full-throttled, the immediacy inviting, the spirit raucous and joyful all at once. The albums may be meant for the dark spaces of your soul, but the live show was a feast spread for a big, rowdy party.
The opening band, Good Morning, hails from Melbourne, Australia, but offered up a gentle, Midwestern vibe full of sunny days and innocent, imperfect human hearts — less trenchant mordancy than Silver Jews, more easy listening and pensive tunes. With deep, soothing vocals, Stefan Blair and Liam Parsons make inviting rock lullabies full of “shit-talkin’ melody.” “I might’ve seen it all,” they croon, and in the most self-assured moments, we just might have, too.
