HANA VU TAKES ON DC
BY LIA PATENTASSomething I admire about Hana Vu is that she doesn’t shy away from large emotions in her lyricism and I was elated to see her show reflected that. From the moment she walked on stage, she took no time to start shredding on her guitar and enveloped the audience in a wall of sound. Romanticism, her 2024 album, saw her move to an edgier pop-rock sound as opposed to the mellower indie pop of 2021’s Public Storage. During the live show though, she seemed to take a more overall rock-leaning approach to her songs both old and new. Vu opened the show with “Hammer,” with the very first line inviting the crowd in with “It's been a long day, take off your shoes.” What followed was an emotionally-charged setlist that captivated the crowd.
“I love DC,” Vu said during a quick water break, “I love Scandal. Have you guys seen Scandal?” During one of the short few times where she had a bit of time to talk, she joked with the audience about having one of the infamous 9:30 Club cupcakes for dinner. Even when the music stopped for a moment, the energy of the live show didn’t let up.
Utilizing a full band gave Vu a lot of room to absolutely wail into the microphone, delivering an emotive performance that really showcased her vocal abilities. Her voice is powerful and enticing, it’s perfectly suited for the softer introspective songs of her recorded discography as well as the more aggressive and cathartic live performance. The crowd matched her energy too, during more intense songs, people jumped and danced around, while during more stripped-back songs like “April Fool,” you could hear a pin drop. After the acoustic segment of the set, she reassured the crowd that they’d be “back to jamming” to close out the last four songs of the night.
