Goth Babe Takes on the Bay area with the Aces
Photos and Review by: Story DeWeese. Check out full gallery here.
Oakland, CA – September 30th, 2024 – The Goth Babe tour across the US, Canada, Mexico and Australia spanning from June 7th - November 3rd, 2024 stopped by Oakland to share a night of music, competition and dancing.
The Aces, the indie pop all-women quartet from Pravo, UT, hit off the night with a bang. The group was brought up in a Mormon society. Three out of the four women in the group identify as queer and the fourth is an ally. The band left the religion, which is unaccepting of queer people, and moved to Los Angeles, CA. The group includes a set of sisters, vocalist Cristal Ramirez and drummer Alisa Ramirez as well as guitarist Katie Henderson and bassist McKenna Petty. An audience member gave Alisa Ramirez a sign that read “Lesbian of the year” with a hand-drawn trophy labeled “Alisa.” The Aces are touring with Goth Babe on the US- and Canada-legs of the tour.
The band’s most recent album I’ve Loved You for So Long, often shortened to ILYFSL, was released last year (June 2nd, 2023). They played songs from many of their discography including “I Can Break Your Heart Too” from their 2020 album Under My Influence, “Waiting For You” from their 2018 album When My Heart Felt Volcanic and their newest single “The Magic,” which was released earlier this week (September 24, 2024). Cristal taught the audience the dance move and corresponding “Ahhh Oooo” sound to make grooving along to their newest hit single even more fun.
Next, Goth Babe took the stage to cheers from the crowd. Goth Babe is solo indie artist Griff Washburn, who is originally from Tennessee and now travels the world with his dog Sadie. He is passionate about ameliorating the climate crisis and he is an environmental advocate, using his platform to promote environmental non-profits such as Protect Our Winters, Conservation Lands Foundation, and Project Zero.
Although the concert was inside, Goth Babe brought love for the outdoors inside. Early on, Goth Babe created the essence of a pool party (minus the pool) as beach balls floated throughout the crowd. For a birthday celebration, one individual crowd-surfed on a pool float during the single “Casita.” Additionally, many green lights were used throughout the set, a color often associated with environmentally friendly and sustainability efforts. Even Goth Babe’s logo, which was occasionally shown on the screen behind the band, includes arrows that resemble trees.
Goth Babe released his debut album Lola earlier this year (January 26, 2024) inspired by his adventures on his off-grid sailboat Lola sailing along the California coast. Throughout the night, Goth Babe played many songs from Lola including “Spinnaker Days,” “Moments / Tides,” and “Bioluminescence.” Mid-tour, Goth Babe released a three-song EP Oregon Coast and performed “Whole World” as a part of their setlist. Afterwards, Goth Babe shared their gratitude to the audience for knowing the lyrics to their song that came out less than two weeks ago (September 20th, 2024). At one point, Goth Babe even entered into the crowd to play a song on guitar. The connection between artist and crowd was one of mutual love and appreciation.
Throughout the night, Goth Babe encouraged a spirit of friendly competition by dividing the crowd into two sides and having a dance-off. The winning side was awarded a life-size cardboard cutout of Smokey Bear, which later had its own crowd-surfing moment. Then, during “Sadie,” there was a Mario Kart competition, where two individuals played the video game and it was broadcast live on the big screen behind the band.
Goth Babe also sang a number of singles such as “Canary Islands,” “I Wanna Help Your Mind” and “Mexico”, a cover of their collaboration with Surfaces throughout the evening. At the end of the set, a fan was invited on stage to dance with Goth Babe, who wrapped up the night with their hit single “Weekend Friend” released on January 19, 2019. Afterwards, they invited everyone to a rave-inspired dance DJ party.