Music Review: Lord Huron

I was lucky enough to score some sweet tickets to a Lord Huron concert a couple weeks ago. And by “score” tickets I mean that my husband bought them for us. I was also lucky because the concert took us out of our tired hometown setting and brought us into Seattle for a weekend trip. I’m really living the life of Riley these days.

Held at the city’s Showbox theater, the concert took on a dark, cavernous vibe. It was a pretty crowded show, an all ages event, making it tough to meander around. When the group came on stage they opened with a couple of their most popular tunes, made familiar from commercials and episodes of MTV’s Catfish.

Their set wasn’t painfully long, on the contrary, it was the perfect length. They played their most recent album, Lonesome Dreams, in it’s entirety and threw in some covers for good measure. I personally feel that their music sounds like a countrified cross of Mumford and Sons and some other indie flavor that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Their look, as a whole, was practically perfect in every way. You know when a band dresses the same as how they sound and it makes the concert feel like a show? That’s what occurred in Seattle. They were dressed like hipster cowboys. Bolo ties and skinny jeans, cowboy boots and suit vests.

They ended with their biggest hit, “Time to Run” which caused everyone to tap their toes. This was my favorite part of the concert because I was down in front, a midst the families, couples, and singles, watching the smiles spread across their faces when they recognized the first chords of the song.

Music Review: Japandroids

I was lucky enough to get tickets to a Japandroids concert last month here in my new hometown of Victoria, B.C. My little slice of Canada doesn’t get too many good shows, but Japandroids are from Vancouver so adding Victoria to their tour probably just felt right. And I, for one, am thankful that they came here.

I hadn’t been to a rock concert in a long time. I was kind of psyched to dance to fast-paced songs all night and get knocked around a bit. My husband and I somehow managed to get in the front row, right behind the barricade so we were involved in all the concert action. There was lots of moshing–our friend even lost his glasses in the pit. Super hard core.

The ‘droids have two studio albums and one compilation album. Their most recent album, Celebration Rock, is the one that I’m the most familiar with. However, they played songs off of all their albums that night and I’m pretty sure they played their two studio albums in full.

Some of my favorite tracks from Celebration Rock are “The House That Heaven Built”, “Fire’s Highway”, and “Adrenaline Nightshift”. Their lyrics are fun to shout and super great if you’re looking for new tunes for your workouts. My favorite lyrics would have to be from “The House That Heaven Built” that say “When they love you and they will, Tell them all, they’ll love in my shadow, And if they try to slow you down, Tell them all, to go to hell.”

Surprisingly, the group is made up of only two people. For all the sound that they make, it’s impressive to think that there are only two instruments played by two vocalists. The duo put on a great and entertaining show that kept everyone on their toes. They asked the audience to go as crazy as possible and I could see the guards rolling their eyes.  There was a lot of crowd surfing, people running on stage, and many a beer sprayed. Insanity ensued.

I would totally suggest seeing Japandroids if they come to a city near you. I had an awesome night and would definitely see them again.