After seeing Local Natives at Coachella last month, I could not wait to see them again at a much more intimate venue (although I would argue that the Mojave Tent on that Sunday afternoon was a pretty intimate affair too). Elyse and I had dinner at Grizzly Peak before stopping at the car to pick up the camera (which, it turns out, I would have been just as happy not having on this night), and on our way, I saw a short guy (I’m short, so I’m allowed to say that) with a mustache and a poncho approaching. I thought to myself, that HAS to be the guy from the band. But then as he got closer, I decided it was just some guy on the phone. Then I heard him say something about Local Natives, and we decided that it wasn’t him, because he wouldn’t have said Local Natives, he would have just said “us”.

We got there at about 8:15 and waited in a line around the corner. I figured I’d be fine getting up front with the doors at 8 and nobody ever getting to shows on time, but I clearly underestimated the average Local Natives fan. We finally got in around 8:45 and I realized I was kind of screwed for pictures despite my best efforts, so decided to just enjoy the show, but not before a run in with the door woman from hell. I gave the guy with the list my ID and he told me I had a +1, to which I replied, “Oh cool, I didn’t know that.” But, Elyse already had her ticket, so we didn’t even need it. To which the door woman bitchily said, “What is it? Take your friend to work day? Gimme a break.” I was sort of appalled, since I didn’t even know I had a +1, nor did I need one, but I let it go. Then she later made an out of line comment about me trying to grease the guest list and then I got PISSED. I don’t know who she thinks she is. Another friend of mine actually is friends with her and said she was just frustrated that people were trying to get on the guest list all night. Well then don’t take it out on the people who were already on it. Anyway, I’m not a hateful person, and I would never hit a woman, but I wouldn’t have minded kicking that gal in veej for her misdirected frustrations. Sorry, I just needed to vent a little.

On a much lighter/better/happier note, I knew that my twitter friend Seraphina’s sister would be at the show, so I tried to get some visual cues as to what she looked like, and got a picture sent back. Turns out she was standing directly next to me the whole time! Go figure.

First up was Brooklyn’s Suckers. I didn’t really know much about them and was less than overwhelmed after their first track. But a funny thing happened during their set. I actually began to like them! I can’t even begin to describe what they sounded like, but I knew that I didn’t hate it. They sounded nothing like Local Natives but were a great accompaniment.

After a relatively short break, the five members of Local Natives took the stage. They opened up with Camera Talk and didn’t give up the rest of the hour or so that they played. Here are a few things I love so much about seeing them live. Just about every member of the band takes turns singing lead. I feel like I didn’t know that just from listening to the album, and it shows how talented they are. On top of that, they keep it fresh on stage by changing spots, switching instruments a bit (complete with just about everyone playing some sort of drum at some point) and sharing the spotlight. And, of course, they just kill those harmonies live. This definitely came off better at Coachella than at the Blind Pig just because the speakers were so much more intense, but they still sounded great. Speaking of intense, let’s talk about their intensity. This is something else I don’t really notice as much when listening to their album (mostly because I’m often sitting at my desk at work with the speakers turned low), but so many of their songs have these big hits, and they really blow them up live. That’s when the random drums come into play that I mentioned before. Oh, and how can we forget about the singalongs? I think I even mentioned this before, but my favorite song live is probably World News, mostly because the crowd always erupts into a spontaneous singalong of the “oh oh oh oh oh oh ohhhhhh ohhhhhhhh oh oh” parts. You know the ones I’m talking about. Every other song becomes a singalong too, but this is my favorite.

Also, I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know “Warning Sign” was a Talking Heads cover.

They encored with a raucous “Sun Hands” and we all left with big smiles on our faces, but not before stopping at the 8-Ball (the bar in the basement of the Blind Pig) to enjoy a smoke free post show drink. Let me just mention again about how flippin’ happy I am that Michigan is finally smoke free.

Summary: See Local Natives live at a venue near you. NOW.

Since my pictures are so few this time, here’s the brand new hot off the press a few days ago video for “World News”.