Waxahatchee And MJ Lenderman Shrink The Met Down To An Intimate Living Room
Katie Crutchfield and MJ Lenderman Saturday night at The Met played a cozy and stripped down two-hour set featuring just two other musicians accompanying them.
MJ Lenderman and Waxahatchee | Photo by Ellen Miller for WXPN
MJ Lenderman and Waxahatchee were back in Philadelphia for a springtime show as a duo over the weekend. The pair sold out The Met on Saturday night, where they performed songs new and old, and a few covers, to a theater full of excited fans.
The big theater stage on Broad Street transformed into a cozy living room for this fully seated concert.
The living room set was complete with various lamps and a (stuffed) dog on center stage. After the acoustic and electric opening set by Nashville-based singer-songwriter Brennan Wedl, which included Waxahatchee joining her on stage for “When the Crazy Comes Out,” Lenderman and Waxahatchee took their seats on stage next to one another and backed by their band — Cole Berggren on banjo and keys and Colin Croom on pedal steel, lap steel, and electric guitar. They alternated between Lenderman and Waxahatchee songs, and threw in some cover songs, too.
The entire show built up to the big closer, Waxahatchee’s “Right Back to it” to end the main set. Lenderman and Waxahatchee performed songs from Lenderman’s 2024 album Manning Fireworks, Waxahatchee’s 2024 album “Tigers Blood,” along with 2021 Lenderman songs “TLC Cage Match” and “Catholic Priest,” as well as a few new songs to complete their 22-song setlist.
Wedl joined Lenderman and Waxahatchee for the final three cover songs of the night including Lucinda Williams’ “Abandoned” and The Jayhawks’ “All the Right Reasons.” The five musicians ultimately brought the performance to a close with their rendition of Kathleen Edwards’ “Six O’Clock News,” which Waxahatchee and Wedl released together earlier this year.
The minimalist approach to Saturday’s performance, combined with the relaxed stage design, led to the entire evening feeling quite intimate and personal despite the two rarely addressing the crowd. In one of those few instances, Waxahatchee said she now needs a guitar strap when playing due to her growing baby bump, drawing cheers and applause from the laid-back audience. If MJ Lenderman and Waxahatchee started another full set, most in attendance would have gladly stayed to extend the living room listening party vibe that fill the cavernous venue.