On February 24th, rising star Baby Rose brought her uniquely impressive voice to the Songbyrd Music House in DC as part of her To Myself Tour. The tour started on 2/20 in Chicago and ends in Oakland on 3/16. Baby Rose has a strong international following as well; she will be performing in major European cities like Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Rotterdam, Paris and London before heading back to finish up the tour in California (Los Angeles and Oakland).
Baby Rose is originally from Washington, DC so this was truly a homecoming for her. The To Myself Tour is also the first tour where she is the headliner. She had previously toured and opened up for fellow DC native Ari Lennox and Snoh Aalegra. I was able to see Baby Rose when she opened at The Fillmore in Silver Spring and was impressed.
Baby Rose has a deep, contralto voice, which is somewhat rare, especially today’s R&B. Some have said her voice reminds them of the legendary Nina Simone. She is also a gifted songwriter and producer. During last night’s performance, Rose also exhibited a strong stage presence and definitely was full of energy as she played before family, close friends, and a Songbyrd crowd that was anxious to see her perform.
The sold out Songbyrd crowd stood shoulder to shoulder in anticipation, but while they waited they were treated to solid performances from opening acts Bobbi Storm and DaVionne. Baby Rose finally hit the stage, joined by her very impressive band, and the crowd gave her a spirited DC welcome. She performed for about an hour and started off her set with “Pressure”, which took the crowd up a notch. She followed up with several other songs from the To Myself album, including “Borderline”, “In Your Arms”, “Over” and “Artifacts”. At times during her performance, Baby Rose offered insight into her motivation for writing certain songs, which only strengthened her connection with the audience.
Baby Rose also performed a single that is not from To Myself called “August 5”, which has powerful, heartfelt lyrics that describes some of her past struggles and her resilient spirit that allowed her to get where she is today. She also gave the crowd a taste of D’Angelo’s Untitled (How Does It Feel?). Baby Rose finished the show with “Ragrets”, “Mortal” and “All To Myself” before thanking the appreciative crowd and exiting the stage. The crowd was not ready for the night to be done though, and they cheered until Baby Rose came back out to finish her successful homecoming show with the song “Show You”.
I thoroughly enjoyed Baby Rose’s show and I would encourage you to check out her debut album To Myself and also more of her music on Soundcloud (and other music platforms). You can find more info on Baby Rose on her website: babyrosemusicofficial.com. Finally, Baby Rose recently performed for the awesome and immensely popular NPR Tiny Desk series. Enjoy her performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk series in the video below, as well as, photos from her performance at Songbyrd Music House in DC on February 24, 2020. All photos copyright and courtesy of David Dixon.
