TORRES (Photo Credit: Shawn Brackbill)

As the green and purple lights flickered in and out, casting an enigmatic glow upon the stage, Mackenzie Scott pleaded, ‘Come out wherever you are.’ in the thoughtful and sorrowful song “Helen”.

Known as TORRES, Mackenzie warmed up the 9:30 Club crowd on November 6th spilling in for the first night of Tegan and Sara’s two shows. Indeed, just to get in for doors open the line extended down the block and around the corner. Something I’ve rarely seen at the 9:30 Club.

The last song of her seven-song set was “Strange Hellos”, a desperate lament on friendship, ‘What’s mine isn’t really yours, but I hope you find what you’re looking for.’

Earlier she played more upbeat songs like “Sprinter”, from her most recent album (2015) of the same name, about finding hope from the past you ran away from. “Cowboy Guilt” is breezy in tone and a slight departure from the more sludgy guitars and vulnerable vocals of many of her other songs.

The crowd was fired up, and the club was completely packed (sold out after all) by the time she finished her too short set. Both Tegan and Sara sang her praises during their performance (and were quite chatty), and encouraged anyone that missed the opening to check her out immediately (my guess is only a few stragglers actually missed TORRES play).

TORRES is from Georgia, and has made quite a number of trips to DC over the past year. She opened for Garbage at the 9:30 Club in October 2015 (see review here) and headlined her own tour, making a stop at the Rock and Roll Hotel in January 2016.

Do as Tegan and Sara say! Give her listen and pick up a copy of Sprinter next time you’re on your music buying site of choice (or better yet, at the music store).

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6SIw30IOt8]

Setlist
Honey
Skim
Sprinter
Cowboy Guilt
Three Futures
Helen
Strange Hellos