Maude Latour knows how to captivate an audience. On Sunday, October 15th, the 24-year-old took the stage for the final show of the “Twin Flame Tour” at D.C.’s infamous 9:30 Club, and she did so in a whirlwind of sparkles, glitter, lights, and sound. Latour graduated from Columbia University in 2022 with a degree in philosophy, and this experience takes center stage as she carefully intersperses existentialist thought throughout both her songs and audience interactions.
Before Latour even performed, opener Devon Again began the evening with a bang, setting the energy for the evening. The 22-year-old, blue-haired alt-pop renegade is impossible to miss, donning sparkling star eyeliner and fishnets. Devon intricately intertwines electronic pop with R&B melodies in an explosion of emotions, rage, and excitement that reverberate throughout each song. Fans cheered Devon’s runs throughout “Suburbia,” the TikTok hit that put the Denver native on the map, and jumped to her high-energy, high-autotune cover of 100gecs’ “stupid horse.” The best moment of her set came during “deep,” during which Devon expressed her most introspective and vulnerable thoughts while gliding across the stage in flame-decorated Heelys.
Latour’s set was just as glittery; she took the stage in jewel-studded jeans to match her equally bedazzled mic stand. Her set began shortly with “I am not the sun,” a single off her most recent EP, Twin Flame. With lyrics like “Oh my God, oh my God / You’re everything I ever wanted” the song set the stage for the night. Latour’s melodies and lyrics celebrate the nuances of romantic and platonic love, unapologetic joy, queerness, and hope, and this song immediately brought the crowd into her intimate universe.
The rest of Latour’s set showcased a combination of songs from her entire catalog, reaching back into her discography to play hits from her 2021 and 2022 EPs, Strangers Forever and 001, respectively. Latour got the audience jumping, singing upbeat, bedroom pop jams like “Furniture” and tributes to queerness and female friendship like “Lola.” Midway through her set, she slowed down to play two acoustic tracks with her guitarist. Before playing “Trees,” a tribute to her late grandmother, Latour spoke intimately with her audience. “We need to take every day for exactly what it is and take everyone around us for as sacred as they are,” she said.
Latour’s set ended with “Block Your Number,” during which she yelled to the fans that “nothing matters outside of this room right now.” The audience crouched down during the pre-chorus and leapt into the air in perfect disunion as she closed out the final song. Latour even entered the crowd to mosh with us in a moment of energy and interconnectedness.
Lying beneath the surface of Latour’s performance and music is a sense of existentialism, a reminder that we’re not here on Earth for a very long time. However, she urges us to take this impermanence in stride, appreciating every person around us and every experience, no matter how small or insignificant. “Life is about the small moments when you get to take it all in,” she said.
Latour ended on a high, playing crowd-favorite songs “Cyclone” and “One More Weekend” as an encore. As her band played the last notes of the closing track, Latour briefly returned to the stage to inform the crowd that before her next live performance, she plans to release her first full album. So, if you haven’t already, now is the time to tune in––Maude Latour is just getting started.
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