Happy Birthday Madi Diaz
The Weird Faith tour made its way through D.C. by way of the 9:30 Club.
Columns of light cascaded from the ceiling of The Atlantis on an unusually humid and warm Tuesday night in late February.
Olivia Barton kicked off the night, just her and her guitar. Barton’s songs are an extension of her life, telling the most intimate experiences or discoveries made during therapy. Between each song she chatted about her inspirations and her love of Julia Child as she tuned her guitar.
Barton’s live vocals captivated the room. Strong and supported, her sound calls out to artists like Kasey Musgraves, The Chicks, and Shania Twain.
Closing the set with “I Love You Just For Trying,” she had the crowd laughing, crying, and singing along with her.
“Making eye contact with strangers is my favorite part of performing live,” Barton said after her set. “I think it’s so vulnerable and fun and scary and exciting. When it’s just me and my guitar, it helps me really connect with the audience, it’s just me and them.”
The Atlantis continued to fill up as the nearly sold out crowd welcomed Madi Diaz on stage accompanied by Cass Elliot’s “Make Your Own Kind of Music.”
Diaz fought her own battle against the humidity, tuning her guitar between songs just as Barton did. Only a few shows into the Weird Faith tour, her excitement couldn’t be contained. It’s clear the stage is where she belongs.
“Every night feels like a weird birthday party that I’m throwing for myself,” she said. Someone called out “Happy Birthday” and it took a few beats for Diaz to get the joke as it was, in fact, not her birthday.
Diaz’s clear and strong vocals cascaded over the crowd, a true story teller with her guitar. The room fell silent between songs, waiting to be swept away in the next melody. During “Don’t Do Me Good,” she heard the crowd singing along and couldn’t believe it.
Advocating for Human Rights is an important issue to highlight for Diaz and she is excited to partner with Propeller to support the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) during her tour.
Her first encore song was a duet with Barton on “New Person, Old Place.” Their vocals complimented each other and blended seamlessly on the harmonies. Ending the night, Diaz sang “Weird Faith.” A song that she says has been the period at the end of everything.
Click here for more tour dates and follow the tour on Instagram with @madidiaz and @oliviabartonhaha
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