Sabrina Claudio Hits The Sweet Spot with 6LACK

6LACK w/ Sabrina Claudio and Sy Ari Da Kid
Showbox SoDo, Seattle, WA
11.04.17

Unless the opener is a recognizable name with a popular track or two under their belt, the typical crowd is only paying attention because they got there for a good spot. But refusing to be ignored, Sabrina Claudio made everyone thankful they got there early for 6LACK’s Showbox SoDo Show.

After Sy Ari Da Kid set the stage for the night with a sound very similar to the smooth, mellow tracks from 6LACK, Claudio took the stage and everyone quickly fell in love with her. She didn’t have a crazy light show, she wasn’t overly active running around the stage, and she didn’t spray water bottles on the crowd or anything. But her gentle presence was more than enough to keep everyone captivated.

Claudio’s set was reminiscent of early 2000’s R&B ladies, with a very high, whispery sound that hazily floated from one track to the next. Her soft voice was an interesting contrast with 6LACK’s. Claudio’s is a very effortless, falsetto sound, where 6LACK’s is a much deeper, gravelly mumble most of the time.

Among names like H.E.R. and SVN, Claudio is helping take over the R&B industry one girl at a time, and 6LACK couldn’t have chosen a better opener.

After hopping on The Weeknd’s big arena tour earlier this year, 6LACK (“Black”) branched off on his own in support of his 2016 album, Free 6LACK, bringing his dark, rough sound to Seattle. By the time he took over the stage, everyone was more than ready to get down with his darker R&B/rap tracks.

His album has the kind of vibe that could really go either way in a live setting: it’s chill enough that it could be a really low-energy set, or people could get really into it and it would be a party. Of course, the light took the form of the latter, as he chose to shout the lyrics more than sing them as he ran around the stage hyping up fans.

And while fans left screaming about how great “PRBLMS” was as an encore, there was still a linger of “oh my gosh that opener girl too though.” Claudio definitely got her fair share of love that night with an amazing performance that hopefully will make its way back up here very soon.

Review and photos by Lulu Dawson

6LACK