Guess who went to another concert this month?Â
I got to see Olivia O’Brien perform at her “PIXIE World Tour” to celebrate the release of her new album, “PIXIE.” The tour started on Oct. 2 and runs until Nov. 18. Maya Donovan opens for O’Brien for all of the October dates, while Sophie Cates opens for all of the November dates.Â
Donovan is an indie music artist that debuted with “CEREMONY” on July 10 of this year. If you like Phoebe Bridgers, you’ll love Maya Donovan. Cates, (formerly known as Silver Sphere,) released “yikes!” independently on Oct. 2, 2019, then signed with RCA Record shortly after. Her main genres of music are pop and electronic music. I haven’t looked too much into her discography or heard her live, so I can’t really say much about her.Â
I went to Olivia O’Brien’s D.C. show on Oct. 10 this year. I’ve been a fan for about eight years now, and this was my first time seeing her live.! Each time I’ve bought tickets in the past, the concert got canceled, or my plans fell through. Not this time!Â
My expectations were definitely met. I lined up maybe about half an hour before the doors opened, and I was able to get in the second row.! The venue was The Atlantis- pretty small, but still a great venue. I was able to leave my spot in front of the stage, and buy merchandise before the show, and still be able to get back into my spot.Â
Donovan started her set at 8 pm, and it lasted about 40 minutes. Her set was honestly impressive. While her music isn’t my style, I still think she’s very talented at singing and lyricism. It was impressive to watch her sing and play keyboard at the same time. She’d even swap to the harp sometimes. I would say she sounds better live than in her studio recordings. Her set was very low-key since she was sitting and playing her instruments, but the lighting switches were really cool.Â
There was a 20-minute intermission before O’Brien came out. She had a live band with a guitarist and drummer who wore fairy wings to fit the theme. O’Brien’s been wearing a different pixie outfits every show, so I was excited to see her walk out in a Tinkerbelle- inspired outfit! She had phenomenal stage presence. She danced around the stage, winked and pointed at fans, and was very entertaining.Most of the songs she sang were from “PIXIE,” but some of her older songs were on the setlist, too.Â
I’m so happy that she had a long setlist with a lot of variety and a total of 22 songs. I’m sad that five of the songs that she played were cut short into one big remix, though. I really like how she spoke to the audience throughout her show in between songs. She talked about things like her past “situationships” with guys like Pete Davidson and Logan Paul. She also engaged with the crowd pretty well, too. They’d call out to her and she’d reply. Also, she was poking out some of the boyfriends in the crowd. She was telling the crowd about how this past tour, she’d poke fun at the boyfriends sometimes because they were bored and had a “flat effect.” But she said our crowd was amazing! I’m glad I was able to finally experience an Olivia O’Brien concert, and I hope to do it again soon!