Waxahatchee at Uptown Theater, Kansas City MO (2024-04-18)

“I won't end up anywhere good without you, I need your love too” – “Lillacs” by Waxahatchee

One of our favorite adopted acts, Katie Crutchfield aka Waxahatchee, originally from Birmingham, AL, but a Kansas City resident for several years now, played the opening night of her tour in front of a thrilled and crowded Uptown Theater.

Crutchfield is arguably in the prime of her career, having made two highly acclaimed recent solo albums (2020’s Saint Cloud and March’s Tigers Blood, on Anti- Records) as well as an equally received 2022 collaboration with Jess Williamson called Plains (who we caught live both in Minneapolis and KC)

As a result of those recent successes (and raves from the likes of Pitchfork), she’s multiplied her fan base exponentially since we started seeing her live, and even the most casual area music fans have been paying attention. She even pays homage to the local region on the new record’s “Lone Star Lake”, set at one of two man-made lakes, in nearby Douglas County.

These newest songs were rightfully showcased as part of her set of two-dozen selections, even working in several songs from the 2022 Plains collaboration.

With a remarkably tight band (Spencer [son of Jeff] Tweedy, Eliana Athayde, Colin Croom, Clay Frankel and Cole Berggren) and an audience on her side from the very first notes, it was clear that this was to be a special evening for all.

Towards the end of the main set, she professed her love for her adopted hometown, dedicating 2020’s “Lilacs” to the metro itself, before ending the main set with the new record’s title track.

The four-song encore began with “Oxbow” from Saint Cloud (its lyrics set in Barcelona, not MN) and as somewhat expected, Crutchfield’s partner and acclaimed singer-songwriter in his own right, Kevin Morby appeared from side stage.

The pair would duet and harmonize together on “Farewell Transmission”, a somewhat deep 2003 cut from The Magnolia Electric Co. side project Songs: Ohia, with its haunting lyrical chorus, “I will try and know whatever I try, I will be gone, but not forever.”

The encore continued with the sparse and compelling “365” from the new record (initially written for Wynonna Judd…!) and the evening would end with 2020 fan-favorite, “Fire” with Crutchfield singing, “I could iron out the edges of the darkest sky, for some of us it ain't enough, it ain't enough” and it wasn’t enough for the hometown crowd, who applauded and cheered for more, even as the house lights went up.

Melbourne Australia indie duo (Stefan Blair and Liam Parsons) Good Morning opened the show, celebrating their tenth year together as a band and traveling halfway around the world in support of their just-released seventh record, 'Good Morning Seven' a double album they describe as “filled with strings, synths, samples, and singing”. 

(Photos by Kimberly Carlson – Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)      

WAXAHATCHEE TOUR DATES