Corook And Maddie Zahm Enrapture And Pull At Crowd’s Heart Strings
You Might Not Like Her Tour Sells Out DC’s Union Stage
It’s a breezy, cool Wednesday evening and the Wharf, DC’s gorgeous waterfront neighborhood, is abuzz as usual. Tonight though, there’s a throng of girls donning Maddie Zahm merch chatting and hanging around ready for the show to begin.
Inside Union Stage, the intimate venue is filled to the brim and the chatter of fans is adding to my preexisting excitement.
I’m a big fan of Corook, and they are Maddie’s supporting act tonight. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Corook aka Corrine Savage (yeah, that’s their real last name. So cool) sings, writes, and plays multiple instruments. Tonight they brought along a keytar, a guitar, and a freakin’ green kazoo. You could say they wear many hats, and you would be correct on two fronts because Corinne has several talents AND they actually have many cool hats. Tonight, a spiked beanie reminds me of Bowser from Super Mario.
Anywho, the lights dim briefly and the room that was once a low roar immediately falls silent. Corook and their “backup dancers” (drummer and bassist but they know how to get down!) take the stage and the audience begins to cheer. Immediately the performance begins with a new song, “CGI,” a funky spacey vibed bop about being in love with someone who’s got a face so perfect, it could be CGI.
Corook’s set gets a little emo when they play one of my personal favs, “idk god.”
“I don’t know why, cause I don’t know God,
but if I did, I’d ask for her thoughts. Buy her a beer, ask why I’m here. Lately the weight of the world is a lot”.
Gets me every time.
Corook glides and grooves around the stage, their quirky energy is contagious and they get several laughs and awws from the crowd. Someone in the audience brought a bubble gun into the building so there are bubbles everywhere during Corook’s set and honestly, it just felt right. Their set ends and they make their way over to the merch table, where we meet and have a heartfelt chat. Corook agrees to doodle on my arm to get made into a tattoo and gifts me a notebook from their merch that they practiced in before doing the sharpie art on my skin.
If you don’t f*ck with snakes but you enjoy dorky vibes and emotional ballads sung by an actual angel, please check Corook out.
There’s a small intermission before Maddie Zahm takes the stage but the crowd keeps the energy alive and growing. Stagehands finish switching out equipment and the lights go down once again and the crowd literally screams in unison. It’s time for the main act.
Maddie does a small introduction and then plays her first song of the evening, “Pocket Bible.” Zahm grew up in Idaho and used to lead worship until she realized the harm that church was causing her and the people she loves. “Pocket Bible” is all about questions that the Bible and religion didn’t answer for Maddie.
Literally, every single one of the songs from Maddie’s set is so powerful. You can tell she poured herself into each one and she sings them with her whole chest. I’m new to her music but I was filled with emotions as she performed. Her music really brings your feels to the surface. At one point during a song, a girl in front of me turned and wiped a tear from her friend’s face who was standing beside her. There was a lot of intensity and healing going on in the room tonight, it was very touching.
Maddie’s got the whole crowd under her thumb, they’re singing along to every song, throwing their hands in the air and pounding on their chests to the really hard-hitting lyrics.
One of my favorites from her set that she performed was called “Dani,” a soulful and unreleased song about a friend who’s more than a friend but the relationship never quite made it to the next level.
Fun fact, Maddie was a contestant on season 16 of American Idol! She actually made it to the Hollywood Round before she was eliminated.
Maddie ends her set with “Step On Me”, and leaves the stage for like 10 seconds before the audience basically commands her to come out for an encore, to which she happily obliged.
“You Might Not Like Her” is her encore song, which is also the name of her EP that was released in June of 2022. This song, like her whole set, is strong and really inspiring.
I was extremely impressed with Maddie’s performance. Not that I expected any less, but man, she is damn good live. And of course, Corook kicked ass and did not disappoint.
The front row of the audience is visibly bummed the show is over, and some of the girls are unable to hide how emotional the performance made them (I can’t blame them, I almost cried too).
This was one of my favorite shows so far this year. Corinne and Maddie are super empowering artists and a really great match for a tour together. They both spoke about self-love and acceptance, being queer and body positivity and I left the show in a really good headspace. Even though the show was over, the love and positivity that were generated by these artists lingered and left the crowd feeling elated and liberated.
Click Here for the Full Gallery of the Evening!
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