Every Catholic knows he could've been pope

Notes from the Waxahatchee & MJ Lenderman show. 4/28/26

Went to church on Tuesday night. MJ Lenderman and Waxahatchee were there. Singing beautiful songs. As they are known to do.

The Riverside Theater in Milwaukee opened on April 29, 1928. We were guests on the eve of its 98th birthday. Imagine all of the music that has ever been played in there. All of the people and bands that have sat in those seats or been on stage. All of the beers drank. I love venues like this. The ceilings have to be that high to store all of the memories. The walls keep in the magic. You can feel it lingering in the air above you.

For this co-headlining tour Lenderman and Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) have stripped things back. They bring the living room to the stage, alternating between their own originals and covers while seated amongst a variety of lamps and other decor. The plush dog was a nice touch. Very good boy. Sat still the whole show. The pair were accompanied by Twin Peaks’ Colin Croom on lap steel, guitar, vocals and harmonica; Cole Berggren on keyboard and banjo, as well as singer-songwriter Brennan Wedl who was the opening act.

I don't know exactly how long they played because time didn't seem to operate normally in that room but I was sitting there grinning like an idiot for what was probably around two-hours straight. In total we were blessed with 26 songs. 26 new offerings to the halls of the Riverside. Everything felt perfectly still but so alive at the same time.

Lenderman kicked off their set with "Manning Fireworks" which was followed up by Waxahatchee's "Evil Spawn." I cannot tell you how good it feels to hear songs like this live. The two are brilliant songwriters whose voices compliment each other in the best ways.

Crutchfield has a timeless voice that feels light and warm. Like a moth fluttering around a lantern you become engulfed in its glow. Lenderman has a more awkward tone and delivery that is weirdly effortless and charming. There's an innocence to it that sounds pretty even when paired alongside Crutchfield's. It's as if two different songbirds from opposite sides of the meadow started a crooning session. Somehow they flow together instinctively. They start up and just fly.

The entire evening held that same ease from start to finish. There wasn't a lot of talking from Lenderman or Crutchfield. Things moved from one song to the next in a way that felt hypnotizing. It was all about the music. Guitar techs would come out between pretty much every song to switch around instruments but it was an in-and-out process with no interruptions. There was this TV at the back of the stage that was buzzing with static that had an owl lamp sitting on top of it. Something about it was mesmerizing.

I don't get on my phone during shows other than to take one quick shitty photo so here is that one quick shitty photo so you can see the owl:

When we walked back to our hotel after the show we happened to catch the elevator at the same time as another couple who had been there. The man noticed our merch and we both exchanged how great the show was. He went on to say that because he's old he really loved that nobody was talking and people weren't on their phones the entire time. I don't know if I'm technically old but I'm right there with you bud. It's been a minute since I've felt that kind of overwhelming collective sense of presence. Everyone in the room soaking up the moment on the same frequency. It's strangely spiritual.

The whole night was great. We heard Lenderman bangers like "Wristwatch," "Love Streams," and "Bark At The Moon." A couple of extra Lenderman highlights:

When singing the line "draining cum from hotel showers" off of "Joker Lips," Lenderman let out a face of disgust that the guy next to me and I shared a good chuckle about.
During "You Don't Know The Shape I'm In" Colin Croom hit us with a sick rendition of the clarinet duckwalk on the lap steel.

We also heard plenty of Waxahatchee gems. "Lilacs," "Much Ado About Nothing," "Tigers Blood," "Crowbar" and more. They even did Crutchfield's version of This Is Lorelei's "Where's Your Love Now." It was fantastic.

Of course the show had to be capped off with Lenderman and Crutchfield doing "Right Back To It." What a fucking song. It's gonna go down as a classic duet. Like "Islands In The Stream" type levels from Dolly and Kenny. It's that good.

The bonus encore songs were also a hit. Brennan Wedl joined back in for the last few here and her voice was absolutely excellent. The encores were all beautiful covers but my favorite had to be their rendition of "All The Right Reasons" by The Jayhawks. The harmonies were incredibly moving and I'm partial to that song for nostalgic reasons.

It's sad when a good show ends but I felt so complete after. Walking through the street singing a tune or two with Lacey. We're still singing a few days later.

Here's a video from the show of a new song Lenderman has never done live called "Try." I found this in the /mjLenderman subreddit from user JJShootsFilm. I can't email Reddit embeds properly here but they were kind enough to send me the actual video file. I needed to compress it a little due to uploading rules but still turned out great. Thanks for sharing, JJ!