Live Review: Say She She @ The Atlantis — 2/17/26

On a sold-out Tuesday night at The Atlantis, Say She She didn’t ease into their groove — they summoned it.

For the 2026 Cut & Rewind Tour stop in Washington, DC, the Brooklyn-based trio arrived backed by a muscular four-piece ensemble anchored by members of cult funk outfit Orgōne. Guitarist and producer Sergio Rios, keyboardist Dan Hastie, bassist Dale Jennings, and drummer Sam Halterman took the stage first, locking into a simmering pocket that felt less like an introduction and more like an invocation.

Then came Piya Malik, Sabrina Cunningham, and Nya Gazelle Brown.

With opener “Collage,” the three vocalists stepped into a groove already in motion, stacking harmonies that immediately filled the tightly packed room. From that point forward, the energy inside The Atlantis barely dipped. On Feb. 17, the venue was shoulder-to-shoulder, and the physical response from the crowd was undeniable — at several points, the floor itself bounced as bodies jumped in time to the beat.

In a 450-capacity room, that kind of collective movement doesn’t dissipate; it ricochets.

The set leaned heavily into material from the band’s newest album, Cut & Rewind, released in 2025 via Drink Sum Wtr while still drawing generously from their 2023 debut album, Silver. Tracks like “Disco Life” and “Under the Sun” translated with taut urgency, their dancefloor propulsion carrying a political undercurrent that never felt didactic. Say She She’s protest instincts arrive dressed in shimmer and groove — a raised fist wrapped in velvet.

Stream Cut & Rewind by Say She She on Spotify:

With all three vocalists present — an important note given that early dates on the tour reportedly saw Sabrina sidelined by illness — the harmonic engine ran at full strength. The trio’s interplay remains their defining feature: at times braiding lines into a rhythmic lattice, at others converging into radiant three-part unison that felt almost orchestral in the compact space.

Behind them, the four-piece band ensured the sound never drifted into retro pastiche. Sam’s drums were tight and punchy, Dale’s bass lines elastic and insistent. Dan’s keys shimmered and swirled through the mix, while Sergio’s guitar added just enough psych-funk grit to keep the disco pulse from feeling polished to sterility. This wasn’t nostalgia; it was propulsion.

If there was any doubt about the audience’s familiarity with the material, it evaporated during selections from Silver. At the close of the title track, one man in the front row sang so loudly he briefly overpowered the band. Rather than recoil, Piya clocked it immediately and pointed toward him with a grin — a quick acknowledgment that the exchange between stage and floor was mutual. This wasn’t passive listening; it was participation.

Watch Say She She perform “Disco Life” on Jimmy Kimmel Live via YouTube:

Covers also made their way into the set, including Talking Heads’ “Slippery People,” a natural fit for a band whose DNA threads through post-punk and disco alike. In Say She She’s hands, it felt less like homage and more like reclamation — the no-wave throb refracted through their three-voice prism.

Throughout the evening, the ethos they’ve articulated in interviews — never recording anything they can’t recreate live — held firm. There were no hidden tricks, no backing tracks padding the sound. What happens in the studio happens again onstage, in real time, with sweat, breath, and a bouncing floor as proof.

As the set pushed deeper into Cut & Rewind territory — through tracks like “Chapters,” “Shop Boy,” and the simmering “She Who Dares” — the atmosphere felt less like a concert and more like a kinetic gathering. The political messaging threaded through the songs didn’t slow the momentum; it fueled it. In a city that understands the language of protest, Say She She delivered theirs with basslines and harmony instead of bullhorns.

On this stop of the tour, the trio didn’t just perform their discodelic manifesto — they made it physical. And in a packed room in Washington, DC, the crowd moved as one.

Enjoy some additional photos from Say She She’s Feb. 17, 2026 performance at The Atlantis. All images are copyrighted and courtesy of Ari Strauss.