Goth Babe is currently on tour across the United States and recently stopped to perform at Brown’s Island as part of the LiVE LOUD Concert Series in Richmond, Virginia. Goth Babe is the project of Griff Washburn, who began his musical career in 2015. Originally from Tennessee, Washburn now lives in Washington with his dog, Sadie, and travels often when not touring and writing music. Griff has over 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify and that number is soon to grow with his latest single, “Whole World,” which has become a popular favorite to hear on tour since its release on August 30th.

On September 8, 2024, the island filled up with fans attending the concert hours before Goth Babe was scheduled to start, just to snag a good spot for the show. Opening up for the majority of the tour dates is The Aces; The Aces have an all-female line up and have toured with bands such as 5 Seconds of Summer, Joywave, and Coin. While most of the audience was there to see Goth Babe perform live, The Aces put on a great performance and many fans were sure to leave with a new favorite artist. The Aces’ energy on stage was fun and electric as they performed their way through a 10-song setlist. Toward the end of their set, they treated the audience to an unreleased song titled “The Magic.” 

Soon after, Goth Babe emerged on stage joined by his band members, Jonny and Hunter, for an invigorating show. There were numerous memorable moments that stood out as I watched the show from the general admission area. The first one of the evening was when a fan was chosen to crowd surf in an inflatable kiddie pool while the audience tossed beach balls around in the pit. Griff continued to initiate a dance battle during Casita between the left and right sides of the crowd, where the winners received a cardboard cut out of Bernie Sanders. After announcing that the left side was the clear winner, Griff proceeded to throw cupcakes into the pit for the “losing” side as a consolation prize. Another contest soon followed between two lucky fans representing each side in a MarioKart race that was projected onto the screen behind the band. A couple of times throughout the night, Griff shared a few sentimental words, like when he introduced “Whole World”  by dedicating the song to the fans and saying it is “always amazing to meet everyone in the wild,” and before singing “Canary Island” he said that the song makes his heart swell up. 

Something refreshing, that I have not witnessed in a while, is that the band actually left the stage before the encore and allowing fans to cheer for one more song. Griff adorning an astronaut helmet and a padded muscle suit, Jonny wearing a cow print cowboy hat, and Hunter in a disco helmet - the three emerged on stage for the final song, “Weekend Friend.” Before the song was finished, Griff had the whole pit get low and instructed everyone to go crazy for the last chorus of the night. The audience went absolutely wild even after the song ended as Griff yelled back to production to keep playing music. Everyone enjoyed a fantastic evening full of music and performance with an impromptu dance party to conclude the night.