Waxahatchee (photo: Ian Young)

In my ideal world, everyone knows who Waxahatchee is and agree’s that Katie Crutchfield is one of the best lyricists to come out of this generation. Last night at The Chapel, my ideal world became a reality. To match that, it was even International Women’s Day, and I could have never chosen a better way to spend it. Not only was I around some of my closest friends but spent the night listening to two beyond promising female musicians.

Briana Marela opened with an unbelievably remarkable setup, not only in the ocean-wave visuals, but with her talent at sound engineering. She has created music that somehow transforms the whole space into specific emotions. She made me wish I had the talent and motivation to understand how to manipulate sound and add lyrics that strengthen the not only the feelings the music brings, but the music itself.

When Katie came out, I almost couldn’t contain myself — I probably shrieked out of joy similar to a preteen seeing One Direction for the first time (especially now since they’re on hiatus). I quickly pushed my inner preteen back into that nicely-kept corner of my mind where I let her scream out all the lyrics, but only in my head. I refrained from screaming out the lyrics into the real world, because not only would that be embarrassing, but this was a solo set. Most times, Waxahatchee does have a band setup, but this night it was only Katie and her guitar. I was not the only one having a slightly hard time not screaming out the lyrics; with every song she played, you could hear distorted voices popping up all over beginning to sing along, but quickly and abruptly letting Katie take the wheel.

Waxahatchee’s music is not only important to Katie, but also to her fans — she has created music that can make a room full of strangers empathize. During the set I made sure to look around the crowd, at least once during every song. Everyone’s eyes had that slight shimmer, the slight shimmer that only appears when you’re trying to hold back tears. Maybe these songs meant a lot to them. Maybe they were going through a hard time and this was what they needed. Maybe witnessing Katie sing these songs, with such bravery, passion, and tender fragility was the most beautiful and fulfilling part of their day. All I know is that after that show, everything in my life felt perfect and for a moment I didn’t hate anything at all.

Also during the encore Katie sang a song I never imagined I would ever get the luck to hear live: “Tennessee” by her and Allison’s (her twin sister) old band, P.S. Eliot. I don’t hate anything at all and will be left with goosebumps until the end of the month.