When you hear Brigitte Calls Me Baby, you’ll undoubtedly be blown away by that voice — the unmistakable warble of Wes Leavins, who serenades you through the length of the band’s post-punk compositions. But as seen recently at The Atlantis in DC, there is a lot more to the band than its outstanding frontman.

Hailing from Chicago, Brigitte Calls Me Baby released their debut full-length album, The Future Is Our Way Out, in August, and they embarked on a USA tour to exercise those songs. Prior to arriving at The Atlantis on Sept. 22, Brigitte Calls Me Baby canceled a week of dates due to illness, throwing their appearance in doubt. But they made it hale and hearty and in raucously strong form.

The date was Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s second turn in DC. The band previously headlined DC9 in February, where they introduced listeners to their debut EP, This House Is Made of Corners. At The Atlantis, Wes and his bandmates opened the show with the EP track “Palm of Your Hand,” but then it was all exploding forward from there. Overall, the concert cemented Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s status as the most exciting breakout band of the year.

The Future Is Our Way Out is one of the most impressive first full-lengths that I’ve ever heard, and the band’s preview of those songs in their DC9 show earlier this year certainly whet anticipation for more. At The Atlantis, Wes’s world-class wail was impressive on the album’s standout tracks, including “Eddie My Love.” Wes’ vocal shot through us like a revelation on the lyric, “I thought I knew me but I didn’t know myself/You saw right through me and truth was I never fell/So hard.” At The Atlantis, he sent a chill through our collective spines, and we wanted to hear that voice again and again.

Watch the official music video for “Eddie My Love” by Brigitte Calls Me Baby on YouTube:

Brigitte Calls Me Baby cites Roy Orbison and The Smiths as influences on their music. And you can really and truly hear it. If crooner Wes serves as Morrissey in the band, then Trevor Lynch might well act as Johnny Marr. The glam-gilded guitarist surely has a taste for Bowie and Marc Bolan, judging by his style and play.

On the excellent “We Were Never Alive,” the band punctuated a trebly guitar with glam rock thunder. The bright drums from Jeremy Benshish elevated the entire effort, magically making the song feel lighter rather than heavier.

At The Atlantis, a two-song encore included the title track for The Future Is Our Way Out, another stunner that allowed Wes to stretch his evocative voice. As a whole the band were exciting to watch for their team interplay. There was great chemistry between bassist Devin Wessels and Trevor on one side of the stage and guitarist Jack Fluegel orbiting drummer Jeremy on the other side. Wes twirled and stomped between the two sides, weaving everything together physically and sonically.

Watch the official music video for “The Future Is Our Way Out” by Brigitte Calls Me Baby on YouTube:

I was pleasantly surprised that Brigitte Called Me Baby played three apparently unreleased tracks during this show — “There Always,” “Altitude,” and “Slumber Party” — suggesting that they are writing and not resting on their accomplishments to date.

Speaking of accomplishments, local DC rock quartet DiToro opened Brigitte Calls Me Baby in their own Atlantis debut. Frontwoman Cathy DiToro and her bandmates warmed up the crowd with nine numbers, including the fun “Magic Pills” and the moving “In My Dreams.”

DiToro performed a cover of “Patience” by Guns N’ Roses, and the audience really quite liked it! I was anticipating a No Doubt cover based on my previous DiToro show experience, but the band defied my expectations by reaching beyond their readily apparent ’90s influences for the ’80s ballad, which they actually released as a single this month.

To close the show, DiToro played the uplifting “Live Forever,” a single first released in 2022.

Watch the official music video for “Live Forever” by DiToro on YouTube:

We will surely hear more from Brigitte Calls Me Baby soon!

Keep up with Brigitte Calls Me Baby on the band’s website.

Here are some photos of Brigitte Calls Me Baby at The Atlantis on Sept. 22, 2024. All pictures by Mickey McCarter.

Here are some photos of DiToro at The Atlantis on Sept. 22, 2024. All pictures by Mickey McCarter.