It’s a Bad Day to be Cailin Russo’s Ex as She Airs Out All Your Dirty Laundry on Her Don’t Tour
- Maggz
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
Written and Photo by Maggz
| Cailin returns to Washington D.C. to a crowd filled with excited fans throwing back green tea shots and celebrating the start of summer
Summer is officially here in the DMV and that means non-stop music, street festivals, and humidity. Cailin Russo is one of the many artists hitting the Washington D.C. live music scene on a summer tour. On the last Thursday in June, her Don’t Tour made its penultimate stop at a packed DC9 club.
The crowd was warmed up after an energetic and loud set from local genre-bending group Pinky Lemon, who opened their set by shouting “It’s still Pride month, right? We love gay people! We’re gay!” The small room was abuzz with chatter as fans waited for Cailin to appear, before she walked from the back of the house to the stage, the crowd parting naturally to make room for the swish of her sparkly jeans.
“I played this venue a long ass time ago! It’s so good to be back in D.C.,” Cailin shared, kicking off her setlist with “Take Me Home.” Fans were also treated to one of her slower and soulful tracks, a personal favorite, “September Rose” which allowed her warm and stylized vocal shine through.
Throughout her set, Cailin shared stories of love and loss - talking about an ex who cheated on her, a guy who once “courted her” for eight years (to which the crowd screamed “EWWW!” in response), and asked if there were any fellow “compulsive lovers” in the crowd. Cailin is a natural on stage, comfortably kicking off her stiletto heels and even laying down on the stage mid-song. She sang directly into the phones of fans eagerly filming their favorite tracks like “Hot Tub Hotel” and “Last Night.”
“This song isn’t out yet, it’s called ‘Gnarly’ and is on my next project, Scare. It’s very sexy, a little scary, and a little gnarly,” Cailin told the crowd before performing the unreleased track (which we can confirm, was a little scary!) Cailin’s energy and humor shine through her performances, joking with the crowd and telling them that there really are no real words to a the track “BOYS TASTE LIKE DRUGS.”
Cailin shared how in Boston the night before, she had given her Heated Rivalry jersey she usually wears during “Bad Things” to a fan near the front of the stage, asking her to hand it to her before the song. The fan had misunderstood, putting it on and thanking Cailin for the gift. It became a fun moment for the fan as Cailin invited her on stage to sing the song with her. In D.C., Cailin invited another fan in the crowd up on the small stage to sing and dance with her, a moment forever immortalized through the many phones held up by fellow fans.
Cailin’s appreciation of her fans is clear, staying until the long line at the merch table was exhausted, each excited to meet her and have tour posters signed. One fan even approached with two green tea shots, a traditional offering of love and girlhood in club culture.
We had a chance to chat with Cailin after her show about her tour, what it feels like to have “Bad Things” on Heated Rivalry, and her new song “x on my chest”:
Congratulations on almost wrapping up your tour! What has been your favorite song to perform live off of Don’t?
“I Serve Cunt” is the most fun song to perform hands down. It’s so wild and bitchy, a very empowering song to sing and have people sing with me. It’s probably the song that will age the most ungracefully but that’s my honest answer.
Pride month is coming to a close and we saw you were on the lineup at Weho Pride in LA, how does it feel to have “Bad Things” be a gay anthem now after it being featured in the finale of Heated Rivalry?
It’s a dream come true, all my best friends are gay and queer and playing Pride was definitely a dream. I’m honored and grateful to be a part of something so monumental for the gay community and want to take this opportunity to say thank you to Jacob Tierney. That scene changed my life for the better and that is also a huge thank you to the LGBTQIA+ community as well for welcoming me so sweetly. I’m glad my horniness and wildness translated and found such a good home.
It’s so cool to see you have different opening acts at each stop and that you got to perform with Arkells in Toronto. Do you have a dream music collaboration you’d love to get in the studio with or perform with on stage?
Shania Twain. I never want to make country music but I love her so much and would die to work together.
You’re giving fans in DC a sneak peek of the “x on my chest” tonight and the visuals look sick - is there anything you can share about the creative inspiration behind the video and song?
The creative behind the song is all energy. Energy and a timeless feel. I wanted to have a video with the same energy as Rihanna’s “pour it up” video. That video is so hot and effortless and empowering - I wanted to channel that. As well as “malamente” by Rosalia in terms of quality and sharpness. I did NOT want anything low-fi. With this video I wanted it to be like a music video you would have seen on MTV in the mornings before school and want to be that girl. I wanted to make something my younger self would have said “WOW!” to.
Cailin’s new music video for “x on my chest” is out now on YouTube and definitely worth a watch to see her vision for the song come alive. Fans in D.C. stayed after the show to preview the new video projected on all the screens in the venue, cheering and dancing along as Cailin sang along with some of the lyrics. It’s clear that Cailin is standing firmly on her two feet as she embarks on a confident, raw, and edgy portrayal of self in this exciting moment in her career and we can’t wait to see what’s in store.
Cailin Russo
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