Concert Review: The Ivy @ Pie Shop (4/15/25)

The Ivy with Lyncs (Photo Courtesy of Tallulah PR)

‘Don’t sleep on the pie at the Pie Shop. I did it, it was fucking amazing!’ – Shawn Abhari (The Ivy)

Emerging synth-pop greats The Ivy returned to DC on April 15th, this time gracing the Pie Shop with their dreamy, smooth sounds. I saw them perform at DC9 a couple years ago, and was pleased to get the chance to hear what big things they’ve been doing since.

One big thing, after three EPs they finally released a full-length album, 2024’s A Door Still Open. They played seven songs during their marked stint at the very full Pie Shop.

The Ivy is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and started as a solo project with Shawn Abhari (synth, bass, vocals). The project became a duo when Shawn met Wyatt Clem (vocals, guitar) in 2016 in Oklahoma City. In early 2017, they released their first EP, Next Stop. For the show at the Pie Shop, another backing band member joined them on drums.

The night started with a great opening set by local band Glossar (who met AND first performed live at DC9), followed by indie pop singer-songwriter Lyncs (Jacqueline Hynes) who impressed with her short set. Another big thing, Lyncs also collaborated with The Ivy on a new single this year, “Don’t Fall Asleep to This”, which they performed. She joined them onstage to sing and play bass.

The Ivy kicked off their 16-song set with the sunny sounding “Hurts Just Right”, from their 2022 EP Look Inside. The song speaks to learning how to adjust and cope when you know it’s best to let someone go, despite all the pain.

Next they played one from their new album, “Good Faith”. Wyatt’s falsetto voice took over, taking center stage above the funky beats and reverb. It was recorded in Mexico in a storage container which give the lyrics ‘locked up in a place’ some gravitas. It is about being stuck between confusion and feeling overwhelmed by life, but leading towards hope in the end. ‘Warm light, place of your comfort, alive, where did you come from?’ They debuted this song and a few others on their tour in 2022, before the album materialized.

Among the other songs the performed from A Door Still Open, both “Street Dog” and “Broad Shoulders” were among the standouts. “Street Dog” featured a sick guitar jam between Wyatt and Shawn towards the end, but the beginning is pure and lustrous in mood and rhythm. The song’s origin is again from their time in Mexico, where the street dogs would have the run of the place. The song dreamily circles around the idea of when your ex moves on from you with an arrogant man. The man acts like he owns the place and gets away with it while you no longer have a chance. ‘The tree I’m barking up is too tall to see’. “Broad Shoulders” is a slower, but harder to hold still to. Its soothing and peaceful melody belies the lyrics. They try to grasp what you could have changed about yourself in time to effect the course of events that led to being on the outside of love and hating yourself for it.

The crowd was definitely feeling the vibe, many dancing in the packed space. The band didn’t speak too much, but Shawn did tell one quick anecdote, that likely needed a whole dissertation. We didn’t get details and that was disappointing. He asked how the crowd was doing and someone said ‘Winning’ (emphasis on sarcasm), and then to highlight that point he let us know that the tour has had a bit of rocky road so far. Their van got stolen in Canada, but at least they were also ‘winning’. And based on the crowd’s enthusiasm, they are not wrong about the winning, at least musically. We just wanted to know what happened with the van!

The penultimate song “Entangled”, the final one from the new album, had a bigger focus on guitars (as both Wyatt and Shawn rocked theirs), making it harder to hear the vocals. But at this point, the whole place felt good and we could have coasted on vibes all night.

They ended the set with “Gold”, a dreamy* and polished journey that we all wanted to participate in. We also wanted for it to never end. “Gold” is a 2017 single that is still both the best and somehow most dream pop song in their repertoire.

Having witnessed The Ivy live twice, I can confidently say you should check them out and be on the lookout for their next tour, hopefully with a DC visit. You will want to be there.

Setlist