One month ago, Katie Crutchfield released her sixth studio album, Tigers Blood, under the moniker Waxahatchee. Since she started this project in 2010, Crutchfield’s indie-folk sound has evolved to include more Americana-style songwriting and instrumentation. The new material has clearly taken hold. Many sets of lips in a charmed St. Paul crowd recited the songs along with her at the Palace Theatre on Friday night. 

It’s an excellent time for Crutchfield, originally from Alabama and currently based in Kansas City, to lean deeper into her musical roots. Waxahatchee’s rise has been alongside alt-country artists like Orville Peck and Sierra Ferrell. (And now Beyoncé is having a moment exploring the sounds of her hometown of Houston, Texas.) Much like other Americana greats, Crutchfield’s melodies sound timeless and familiar upon first listen, and her work often subscribes to Tom Petty’s “Don’t bore us get to the chorus” formula. Crutchfield’s songs are also filled with relatable, build-your-own-interpretation-style lyrics. 

This current form of Waxahatchee is uniquely captivating live. With a tight band behind her, Crutchfield expertly danced her fingers across her guitar’s fretboard and sang from deep within her chest, using her body as a vessel for expressing vulnerability. With merely a hip sway or a swing of her guitar, she presented a big-cat-like energy: composed beauty and a little dangerous. 

They began the night by ripping through the first three tracks of Tigers Blood – and they eventually played the rest. Crutchfield wore black pleather pants, a black tank top, silver pointed shoes, and a black-and-gold KC hat like the one she wore on the cover of Tigers Blood atop her long, dark mane. One elated fan would have the good fortune to leave with that hat as Crutchfield whipped it off her head and launched it into the crowd during the first song of the night, a slightly slowed version of “3 Sisters.” The live version of “Evil Spawn” featured Colin Croom adding a silky, folksy groove on pedal steel. “Ice Cold” kept the high energy high with Crutchfield’s voice full and lush, hitting goosebump-inducing high notes. 

Screams from the crowd met Cole Berggren’s banjo plinking for “Right Back to It,” which featured lead guitarist Clay Frankel ably adding MJ Lenderman’s backing vocals, and continued to turn the crowd's energy up. On bigger, vibrant songs like “Bored,” Crutchfield’s crisp, high vocals soared. “Crowbar” got the crowd dancing and swaying to a tune that offered an unwavering optimism about love — even when it’s uncertain or complicated. 

Slower, sentimental moments of the night provided a release. “The Eye” from 2020’s Saint Cloud made the anxious buzz of navigating a complicated love a tactile experience, “But if I spin off will you rescue me? / Or will I beg you to set me free?/ I think what's wild might be meant to be / You and me.” She played with visual lyrics like “When I see you, I’m like honey on a spoon,” from “Can’t Do Much.” Wistful “Burns Out at Midnight” felt like a realization that it’s ok to lean on someone, even if it seems uncomfortable. 

Much of Crutchfield’s work explores relationship dynamics and self-discovery – including finding sobriety and love. She included three songs from side project Plains, with bassist Eliana Athayde deepening the harmonies. Notably, the crowd whooped for joy when they began “Problem With It.” Croom’s lap steel waltzed through the song and added so much warmth and texture while Spencer Tweedy on drums worked with Athayde to add a steady, thrumming heartbeat to a song about unrequited affection. 

Together, Waxahatchee compelled some impressive singalongs to older songs like “Lilacs,” “365.” They closed the night with the vocal knife of a song, “Fire,” a colossal recorded song that seemed impossibly even bigger and richer live. 

Crutchfield made it a point to thank the crowd several times throughout the night, and even allowed herself a few moments to step past the lights to look up into the sold-out theater. The music, that voice, and her presence were all that was needed to hold an audience completely in the moment.

Australian duo Stefan Blair and Liam Parsons, who record as Good Morning, brought along four additional musicians to open the show with easy-listening melodies and hypnotic harmonies at times reminiscent of Wilco and Dr. Dog. Saxophone and violin added interest to their sound, especially when the violin was played with the electric guitar, which sometimes made it sound almost like a lap steel. It was perfect, sun-drenched porch relaxing music to kick things off.

Waxahatchee

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Good Morning

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Setlist

3 Sisters

Evil Spawn

Ice Cold

Problem With It (Plains)

The Eye

Hell

Right Back To It

Burns Out at Midnight

Bored

Lone Star Lake

Crimes of the Heart

Line of Sight (Plains)

Witches

Crowbar

Ruby Falls

The Wolves

Hurricane (Plains) 

Lilacs

Tiger’s Blood

Encore

Oxbow

365

Fire