The artist released her latest LP last August
Morgan Wade took the 9:30 Club in DC on Wednesday (Jan 29th) to kick off the second leg of her Obsessed Tour. The soulful Virginia native blends a southern twang with soft-pop and rock sensibilities that have made her a standout in recent years. She took the stage in a sleeveless jersey with Obsessed—the name of her most recent album and this tour—emblazoned on the front.
Live, her rural country twang is more pronounced, especially on rocker “Songs I Won’t Remember” and slower “Don’t Cry.”
Ease demonstrated her edgier side with “Candy From a Stranger,” offering raw vocal power as she strummed for her life. The power ballad “Mend” had the crowd swaying and singing along. It was a slow burn that culminated in a killer shred from Wade’s electric guitarist Clint Wade.
During “Take Me Away,” Wade turned the chorus over to the crowd completely, and they responded enthusiastically. It always warms this reporter’s heart to see love for country music in the nation’s capital.
Wade played a beautiful custom black guitar with red inlay on most songs. A no-thrills club show, Wade powered through 17 songs in about an hour and a half. But she still found time to perform some stripped-down songs, including “Run” and “2 AM in London.”
The show closed with what has become Wade’s signature hit, “Wilder Days.” And it’s her biggest for a reason: it encapsulates the unique sound that she’s carving out for herself: one part country, one part pop, one part rock, a dash of pensive wistfulness and a fistful of the spice of life. It’s a winning formula that will draw even more to become obsessed with her music as it takes hold.
An entirely solo-written 14-track collection, Obsessed, released last summer, was produced by her touring guitarist Clint Wells and showcases Wade at her rawest and most vulnerable. She writes with incredible force about the ache for home and the emotion of being reunited with loved ones, of feeling dangerously preoccupied with someone, and of being in situations that society might consider outside the norm. On Obsessed, Wade thoroughly examines an inventory of her journey, not sparing any ugly details when she’s been the one at fault.
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