Review: Hovvdy at 9:30 Club on Nov. 2
This past Monday, Nov. 2, Austin-born, and now Nashville-based, indie-pop duo Hovvdy rocked the stage at D.C.’s 9:30 Club, and the only word to describe the evening was “powerful.” Not only did their performance incite a variety of emotions and reactions from the audience, but they were, frankly, just loud. I don’t mean this in a negative way; while their recorded tracks tend to have a more heldback and mellow production, their performance on Monday was anything but. Joined by three other bandmates, Charlie Martin and Will Taylor completely transformed the group’s sound onstage.
From the beginning to the very end of their set, Taylor’s voice blasted through the venue, with the mic picking up his rich, deep indie-country twang even when he stood feet away from it. Though Martin projected slightly less, his airy, more subdued tone still resonated strongly with the audience. They continuously traded off the lead vocal role throughout the show, letting each other shine yet still providing integral backing vocals that gave their performance depth and texture. Their band members also shuffled around the different instruments, making the show dynamic the whole way through. At one point, they even had one of their old band members who lives in the area come onstage and help with percussion and keys.
Their set consisted of plenty of songs off their new album, Big World (2026), as well as some older classics. All of them, however, felt brand new as the five musicians infused the tracks with the energy and impromptu chaos characteristic of live performance. Their passion and collaboration only amplified their already upbeat tracks, like “Try Try Try” and fan-favorite “Jean,” with Taylor improvising a pseudo-rock star guitar riff during the former that he claimed “surprised” the audience at previous shows. Even their more lowkey songs, like “1999” and “Way Down” got a boost, the audience swaying and singing along the whole time.
A highlight of the night was Martin’s performance of “Blast,” during which his voice was run through a live Auto-Tune processor, giving the song a completely different vibe from its recorded counterpart. Throughout the song, he walked around the stage with his hood on, crouching and bouncing around in a Justin-Bieber-circa-2011 way which, to be honest, felt a bit bizarre, but certainly kept the audience engaged.
Unlike opener Christian Lee Hutson, who responded and held conversations with audience members in between his acoustic folk tracks, Hovvdy focused more on the musical performance, quickly transitioning from song to song. When they did engage with their fans, however, they were friendly and casual, lending a sort of intimacy to the evening. Martin, highlighting the merch they were selling at the show, was met with mild audience engagement; in response, he made a remark along the lines of “Nobody gives a fuck,” prompting a roar of laughter. They also hung around after their show to sign merch and take pictures with fans.
The biggest takeaway from the night is that Hovvdy are real professionals. They’ve been in this business for over a decade now, and their performance showed it. It unveiled a whole new side to not only their musicianship, but their partnership and friendship, as well. Above all, Hovvdy looked like they were having the best time ever on that stage, just as I was having the best time ever in the audience.
Flo Bendersky is a senior in the College majoring in American Studies and minoring in English. She hopes that one day people love her as much as the three guys standing behind her at the concert loved Christian Lee Hutson.
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