There’s a difference between loving artists’ for their musicality in the studio vs. their ability to perform it live, and not many can showcase their skills in both settings at the same level of execution. But Remi Wolf is one of those few artists whose competencies during the creative process and on the stage are equally strong, and every time she’s playing a show in my city, I try to attend. Her unpretentious performance style, which often includes goofy banter in between songs, lots of dancing, and crowd interaction, paired with her inimitable vocal prowess, is always an amazing time. And not to mention her extensive discography, which spans two EPs, one remix album, and now, three full-length projects across seven years.
Wolf’s first of two album releases shows happened over the weekend at Los Angeles’ Fonda Theater, the following happening in NYC on October 13 at Webster Hall. Wolf’s last performance in Los Angeles took place at The Greek Theater back in 2024, a venue that holds nearly 6k attendees, giving way to an even more special night to unfold at The Fonda (ironically where I saw her perform for the first time back in 2022), which only holds 1,200 people. The evening gave fans the incredible opportunity to see Remi in a more intimate setting—and plus, it would also be the first time Remi performed the majority of these songs from Mud live.
The show kicked off to a rowdy crowd overflowing the lobby are of the venue, where Wolf and co took the stage to begin with a performance of “Bottle,” the opening track off Mud. The band quickly went into a performance of “Champagne,” the album’s focus track, which was the selection from Mud chosen to be promoted from the entire body of work on streaming platforms. All of the songs have that quintessential “Remi” quality to them, but something about “Champagne” feels even more “Remi-esque” in the way that I feel like I’ve known it forever, despite only hearing it for the first time a day earlier than hearing it sung live.
I assumed that the entire album would be played in order, but Wolf and her band switched things up by debuting “Burn Me Blue,” “Jamie,” and “Moon So High,” next, with Wolf amusingly attempting to sing John Mayer’s solo in her lowest octave, which was met with cheers of encouragement from the crowd. The guitar solo was provided by her longtime band member Jack DeMeo, who did the run justice. “That definitely sounded like a John Mayer guitar solo,” my friend said to me once he finished.
A lot of Wolf’s catalog is self-described as funky soul pop, and that through-line doesn’t completely disappear on Mud, but you can hear more twangy elements of folk and country sprinkled throughout the album, particularly on “Covered in Mud,” which was one of the biggest moments of the entire set. She continued with that vibe on the more subdued track, “Guess” where she sat down at the front of the stage for a quieter moment of the evening, and in my opinion, one of the most effective. Next was “Twiggy,” the song’s lead single and my personal favorite from the album, which of course, garnered the most singing from the crowd, crescendoing with the bridge, a cathartic release so loud to the point where my phone picked up someone near me screaming the lines louder than my own voice.
Next up, Wolf ditched the jangle for a more ’90s R&B-esque track in “I Won’t Cry,” a song that I could imaging my 10-year-old self singing along to in the back of the car in the same vein of Alicia Keys or Boys II Men (complimentary). It’s the emotional peak of the album, and another opportunity for Wolf’s impressive vocal range. She concluded the performance of the album with “Wine Drunk” and “Yellow Rose,” before returning to the stage for “Disco Man,” “Michael,” “Soup,” (my sixth most streamed song of 2024), and finally, concluding with a mash-up of The Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden” and The Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane.”
During the promotion for Mud, Wolf shared that creating the album was a collaborative process with herself and her band, and how they spent a lot of time up in Big Bear, California writing music together. Knowing this fact after seeing the entire album performed live makes total sense, the group’s natural chemistry onstage is palpable, and it felt like a group of close friends jamming out together. Wolf made multiple comments throughout the evening that she was sharing the stage with her best friends, and knowing how much heart went into the making of Mud made the evening even more special.
Remi Wolf has a handful of shows in Australia this December before returning to North America in February for a headlining tour, and will likely perform at major US festivals, including Coachella. Check out the full list of announced dates HERE.
Header photo by Eddie Perez for Staged Haze at Remi’s Lolla 2025 aftershow, full gallery HERE
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