Beabadoobee 9:30 Club Concert Review

beabadoobee+performing+at+the+9%3A30+club%2C+taken+by+Ruby.

beabadoobee performing at the 9:30 club, taken by Ruby.

Ruby Werckman

On November 1st, 2021, beabadoobee had a concert at the 9:30 club. There were two opening acts, the BLACKSTARKIDS and Christian Leave. The line was really long to get in so I missed the beginning of BLACKSTARKIDS’ set but the few songs I got to hear were pretty fun and they did a good job getting the audience warmed up. I hadn’t heard any of their songs before but my favorite of the songs I heard there was “Time Flies When You’re Having Fun.” I liked the way the song changes a lot throughout and also the incorporation of the beginning of “Tik Tok” by Kesha since that’s a well known song so most people at the concert could recognize it. Also at the end of the show some of the members of the group were walking around in the audience saying hello to people which was nice. I also hadn’t heard of Christian Leave before this show but there were definitely other people in the audience who had. His songs were good, and I would say matched beabadoobee’s style pretty well with lots of guitar and alternating between slower and faster songs. His music sort of reminded me of Declan Mckenna (who’s music was played a bit between performers). My favorite songs were “10 Steps” and “Days Like Lost Dogs”.

Beabadoobee’s set was great! She even mentioned that everyone had been awake since 3am and were jetlagged from coming straight from Europe, but you couldn’t tell. Her live vocals were great, and I think she did a good job mixing some of her more energetic songs with some slower ones though there were more upbeat ones than I expected, which was fun. “Worth It” is one of my all time favorite songs but also “She Loves Bass” and “Last Day on Earth” were really fun live, being easy to jam out to and getting the whole crowd excited. Overall, she did a good job getting the crowd engaged and moving around having a fun time which I think suited the size of the venue very well.

The venue itself was a perfect location for this show. This was my first concert since the pandemic started and I felt pretty safe. They did a good job checking everyone’s vaccination status and everyone inside seemed to really be keeping their masks up. The room with the actual stage was actually bigger than I expected, in a way where it goes further back so there is room around the edges of the room to stand in a less crowded space while still being able to see the stage pretty well. The staff were all very friendly and even handed out free cups of water at the end. The building itself was pretty cool inside, with lots of posters up and funky decor like the barbies on the bathroom doors. The audience was a pretty big mix of people, with more of the adults staying towards the back, closer to the bar, and more teenagers up front. Everyone was very nice and overall this was a great first concert experience here in D.C!