Earlier this week, thousands of fans descended upon The Anthem at The Wharf in Washington, D.C. to see their fave Kali Uchis for the D.C. stop of her Red Moon In Venus Tour. Kali was born and raised in nearby Alexandria, Virginia, and as she stated during her performance, it always energizes her to perform for her hometown fans.
After kicking off her North American tour at Coachella, Kali has been joined on tour by UK singer-songwriter RAYE as her opening act. RAYE has a uniquely strong voice and infectious personality, and the crowd immediately took to her and her band. Dressed in all white, they performed for roughly 30 minutes, with RAYE performing songs from her album My 21st Century Blues. Her efforts were rewarded with a solid ovation once her set ended.
The sold-out crowd of close to 6,000 was now ready for the main event but had to wait approximately 40 minutes as the crew prepared the stage. Eventually, a large, white elevated stage with stairs on both sides emerged as the crew finished their work.
A video of the moon hovering in a red sky began to play on the big screen behind the stage, signaling to the crowd the show was about to begin. They exploded in delight as Kali and her six dancers walked on from backstage to scale the left set of stairs. The dancers held large feathered plumes to keep Kali covered until they reached the center of the stage. Once she emerged dressed in a burgundy sequined top with long sleeves accented by feathers from elbow to wrist and matching pants, the crowd went crazy, and her performance was officially underway.
Performing to tracks and without a live band, Kali began her set with the bouncy groove “telepatia” from her 2020 GRAMMY-nominated Spanish language album Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios). It became evident that the crowd’s energy would be a constant for the entire show as they seemed to know every word and proceeded to sing along with Kali. She received strong crowd participation when she performed songs that she’s been featured on over the last few years: Tyler, The Creator’s “See You Again,” Daniel Caesar’s “Get You” and Kaytranada’s “10%,” for which they won a GRAMMY.
Uchis kept it moving and sang “fue mejor” from Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios), as she and her dancers executed their moves flawlessly. That was followed by her track “Dead To Me” from the stellar 2018 Isolation album. Things slowed down a little bit as Kali showed some vulnerability and told her fans she has always been introverted and somewhat of a loner, which served as the perfect segue into the song “Loner” from Por Vida.
She next blessed the still raucous crowd with a medley from Red Moon In Venus, including “Moonlight,” “Moral Conscience,” “Not Too Late,” “Hasta Quandro,” “Endlessly” and “I Wish You Roses.” She seemingly finished up her set with “After The Storm” from Isolation before leaving the stage and thanking her fans for coming. The audience would have none of that and called endlessly for her to return. Kali emerged one final time and ended the show with the ballad “Blue” from Red Moon In Venus.
Kali Uchis delivered an excellent, high-energy performance for her DMV fans. Despite her success, she remained humble as she thanked her adoring hometown crowd several times throughout the performance for their support. She also showed vulnerability, which endeared her even more to those in attendance. If you’re a fan and you live in one of the cities where the Red Moon In Venus Tour will visit next, you owe it to yourself to check her out.
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