The past few years have been a rollercoaster for the American band Waxahatchee. The group (fronted by founder and lead singer Katie Crutchfield) released their fifth album St. Cloud on March 27, 2020, just as the world entered lockdown. St. Cloud was a radical departure in sound for Waxahatchee. They dropped the lo-fi indie rock sound of their previous records, instead drawing inspiration from country music. This change in sound was in part due to chief songwriter Katie Crutchfield experiencing burnout from touring. This led to a struggle with alcoholism. Crutchfield retreated to the music of her youth for solace, finding newfound inspiration in the music of artists such as Lucinda Williams.
Katie Crutchfield was eventually able to tour St. Cloud under the Waxahatchee monikor, albeit without her band. She finally toured St. Cloud for UK audiences in a limited capacity in the Spring of last year. This tour also acted as a mini-tour for her side project with singer-songwriter Jess Williams. The duo released a self-titled record together under the monikor of Plains in 2021. Waxahatchee’s 2023 UK tour saw Katie Crutchfield return to Belfast for the first in eight years, as she played the Black Box venue in the city’s Cathedral Quarter.
Earlier this year Waxahatchee released their sixth studio album Tigers BloodT. They also announced a tour of the UK and Ireland for July of this year to promote the record. This tour included a stop-off in Belfast, with them playing the Empire Music Hall. This live date was the group’s first live show in the city as a full-touring band since June 2015. As a long-time fan of Waxahatchee, I immediately bought a ticket. Here are my thoughts on the concert, and why it is likely to be one of my favourite gigs of the year come December.
The Empire Music Hall is already close to full by the time tonight’ support act – Anna St. Louis – takes to the stage. The Kansas City singer-songwriter does an excellent job opening for Waxahatchee. Anna’s setlist largely consists of songs taken from her 2023 sophomore album, In The Air. This collection of songs were written while Anna was taking a break from songwriting, working as a receptionist in Upstate New York. The Empire Music Hall proves to be the perfect venue for Anna’s brand of Americana-tinged folk. The intimate surroundings of the Empire Music Hall allow Anna’s vocals to shine. Highlights of her set include the tracks “Father Away”, “Phone”, and closing song “Fire”.
There’s a palpable energy throughout the Empire Music Hall as Waxahatchee walk onstage. The band kickstarts their show with the song “3 Sisters”. The band follows up the opening track from their latest album Tigers Blood with two more songs from the same record: “Evil Spawn” and “Ice Cold”. This opening salvo sets the tone for the evening, as Waxahatchee plays Tigers Blood in its entirety. Scattered throughout tonight’s setlist are several songs from their 2020 album St. Cloud.
These tracks from Tigers Blood and St. Cloud have a noticeably harder edge in a live setting compared to their recorded versions. There’s a muscularity to tonight’s performance by Waxahatchee that’s most noticeable during songs such as “Evil Spawn”, “Hell”, and “Bored”. The songs from both Tigers Blood and St. Cloud feel much rockier live than they do on record. And I found myself drawing comparisons between Waxahatchee and the Hold Steady during these more uptempo songs. Despite this harder sound, the trademark vocal harmonies are still present throughout tonight’s set. Katie Crutchfield and guitarist MJ Lenderman sound fantastic duetting on the song “Right Back To It”.
If I had to use one word to describe tonight’s set by Waxahatchee, it would be polished. This isn’t surprising considering tonight is the band’s penultimate date on their UK/Ireland tour to promote Tigers Blood. Nor is it intended as a critique. It’s clear throughout their set that this is a band having the time of their lives touring this record. This infectious energy spreads through the sold-out crowd in the Empire Music Hall, who are also clearly enjoying themselves. This was most apparent during the encore, where there was a party-like atmosphere amongst the Belfast crowd as they moved and swayed along to the show-closing song “Fire”.
Walking home from the Empire Music Hall, it was hard not to feel like I had just witnessed something special. Tonight’s performance from Waxahatchee felt like a band in their pomp, riding the high of releasing several critically acclaimed records and finally getting the recognition they deserve. While Waxahatchee may never become a household name like stadium-filling bands such as Coldplay, a band receiving some deserved recognition is always wonderful to see.