Concert Review: beabadoobee @ 9:30 Club (10/25/22)

beabadoobee (Photo from FB) — beabadoobee (Photo from FB @radvxz)

Beatrice Kristi Laus, the Filipino-British singer-songwriter also known by her stage moniker of beabadoobee, arrived in the US to start the US portion of her Beatopia Tour with two sold out shows at the 9:30 Club.

I went on the opening night, October 25th, for a markedly great show in front of probably all the zoomers living in DC.

Beatrice herself is Gen Z, born in 2000 in the Philippines before moving to London at a young age. She startedperforming at age 17. There are certain times when you know you are not the main audience for an artist, and this was glaringly obvious when most of the 9:30 Club attendees were not of drinking age. The upside was no lines at any of the bars, and I was able to watch the show in the vicinity of a few parent chaperones. Despite not being part of the ‘in-crowd’ of whom may be most excited to witness her perform live, it was still a good time for any generation.

beabadoobee just released her second album, Beatopia (via Dirty Hit), in July and invested a good deal of time playing the new material. To keep the tour theme alive, the backdrop of the stage was a huge version of the album’s artwork. Overall, beabadoobee performed a robust 22 songs, including eight songs from Beatopia. She added eight from her first album (Fake It Flowers), and a smattering from her earlier EPs.

Her brand of alternative rock, singing and jamming on a guitar for most songs, was appealing and sometimes intense as her and the three band mates would often break down into raucous jam sessions. Other times, Beatrice’s clear voice broke through, eliciting cheers on a regular basis. The most wonderful part was the zoomers down on the main floor jumped up and down, and at a few key junctures sparked into mosh pits and crowd surfing!

She jump started the evening with the latest single from Beatopia called “10:36”, which presented the first glimpse of the engagement and excitement of the audience; they jumped up and down in unison and forgot about the real world for an hour and a half. This anthem is about breaking the bad news to someone that has falling for you, but they are ‘just a warm body to hold’.

“Worth It” brought out the mosh pit, after the killer guitar intro got people fired up.

Midway through the set, came another single from Beatopia, “Sunny Day”, an upbeat ode about apologizing and promising to get together again on a sunny day. It was probably just me, but it also gave off whiffs of “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman.

Next came “He Gets Me So High”, the first of three songs from 2021’s Our Extended Play EP (via Dirty Hit). As she belted the lyrics to the rafters, it was a wow moment that she is an incredible vocalist, to go along with her guitar skills.

Beatrice mostly concentrated on putting on an admirable concert, rather than chatting with the crowd, but in the fullest moment of engagement, she shared that “See You Soon” is her favorite song from Beatopia.

“Last Day on Earth” brought out the crowd surfers with its danceable happy vibes. Also from the Our Extended Play EP, the lyrics start on a bleak note, but then becomes something of a lark where the only solution is to enjoy yourself and dance.

She ended with a three song encore, starting with “Coffee”, her first single from 2017. A remixed version became something of a viral sensation on TikTok. The band stayed in the green room, while Beatrice pulled up a stool and sang her heart out with everyone chanting in unison.

The final stamp on the evening was “Cologne”, where the full band returned and the zoomers on the main floor, sensing the end was nigh, went crazy one last time.

I’m not saying you should go crazy, but I am saying you should pick up a copy of Beatopia, and give beabadoobee your attention regardless of your age.

Setlist