For those who don’t know Goth Babe, he’s a 25-year-old electronic dream pop artist also known as Griff Washburn. He currently lives in a tiny house in Washington and donates $1 from every ticket sold of his 2023 Lola Tour to Protect Our Winters.
But if there’s one thing that anyone needs to know about Goth Babe, it’s that he knows how to work a crowd.
Goth Babe performed to a sold-out audience at Roadrunner music hall on May 7 with openers Yoke Lore and Flipturn. From his very first moments on the stage, it was clear that crowd interaction was his specialty.
The ambient, instrumental song “New Born Worlds” played as Goth Babe’s touring band took the stage. The soothing blue lights washing over the musicians suddenly flashed white as the first notes of “Moments/Tides” began to play when Goth Babe ran onto the stage.
“What’s up y’all,” he said as he immediately dove into singing the lyrics.
Originally hailing from Nashville, Tenn., many southern sayings permeated his frequent banter with the crowd during the show, including the occasional cowboy “yip yip.” After the first song ended, he casually asked if any audience member wanted to crowd surf on a “pool toy,” as if this is a normal question to ask at a concert.
Maybe for Goth Babe it is. Hands shot into the air and fans screamed from all ends of the over-packed pit before he finished asking his question.
The fan floated around for one song, “Alone in the Mountains,” on a giant watermelon pool float before Goth Babe checked in on her, asking if she’d prefer to get down or go around for another song.
She decided to crowd surf for another, “Casita,” before being carried to the front of the stage where Goth Babe had her stand and help orchestrate a dance battle between the two halves of the venue during “Encinitas,” his song with Louis The Child.
Towards the end of the show, Goth Babe had a bit of a lengthier heart-to-heart with his fans.
“We try to make these little 70 minute concerts more than just going to a show and having a few drinks then going home,” Goth Babe said. “We want you guys to enter the room and leave judgment at the door and come in and feel like you’re a part of something bigger than anything you’ve experienced.”
He did exactly that just from the beginning. After almost every song, he would check into the audience to make sure everyone was alright and to ask if anyone knew the lyrics to sing along with him. He threw cupcakes and beach balls into the crowd, asked for updates on the Celtics and Nuggets game, and made audience members face someone new to ask what brings them to Boston.
At every turn, Goth Babe made sure his concert was an interactive experience for the fans. Instead of worrying about their dancing or if they were singing too loud, the fans could just enjoy the unique concert experience curated by Goth Babe.
The lighting effects contributed to the same cultivated experience. It was easy to know when to nod your head along or jump if someone lost the beat of the song because they could just as easily mimic the movement of the lights.
Along with the lights rising and falling to every track, different songs correlated with different colors. The lights flashed blue and red for “End Summer,” but were stagnantly red for “I’m in Luv” The lavish display rivaled that of The 1975, a band known for its aesthetic staging and concept shows.
Although Goth Babe has not released a full album, fans still appeared enamored with the artist’s music, as they jumped and danced along to all of his electro-pop songs. Goth Babe finished off his show with his encore of “Driving South” and “Weekend Friend.”
As the lights dimmed on the stage and Goth Babe’s voice drifted out of the speakers, fans stayed behind, dancing to the artist’s curated playlist of electronic dance hits.
Maybe they stayed with their friends, or maybe they stayed behind to draw out their last moments with the new friends they met because of his music.
