For so many reasons, Monday night’s Lord Huron show was the official start of summer concert season for me. Let’s take a moment to talk about all the wonderful, albeit miniscule, things that made tonight one of the better Monday nights in recent memory. First off, even though it’s May 2nd, it is only just becoming warm enough to wear a sweatshirt out for the night. I also just rediscovered my red Chuck Taylor high tops, originally purchased for my Hamburglar costume circa 2007 but buried in the bottom of my closet since then. Then, on my drive downtown while skimming through my ipod, I noticed a name I hadn’t paid much attention to in at least 6 months, Menomena. I listened to Mines for the first time in a while, and it was good. When I arrived at the Magic Stick, I noticed the door was open and took a few minutes to stand out on the awesome/huge balcony for the first time of the season, and then I remembered that balconies existed and I was going to get to sit and/or stand on them all summer long.
And all of this greatness doesn’t even take into account the wonderful show that I got to witness, which was full of awesome moments in and of itself. First off, the entire crowd decided to stand about 3 feet back from the stage, which made tonight the easiest night in the history of me going to the Magic Stick with a camera for taking pictures. I could just walk back and forth freely and it was such a welcome relief for what is typically one of the most difficult places for taking pics when there’s a crowd. Lord Huron, in what was essentially their homecoming show (even though I’m pretty sure that Ben Schneider is from somewhere in northern Michigan), did not disappoint a solid Monday night crowd. Though their catalog may not be fully developed, it’s full of some of the most high energy folk jams you can imagine, each one better than the one that came before it. With three guitarists, a bassist and a multi-faceted drummer, there was no absence of layers of sound working in perfect harmony and causing even the most clap-resistant fans (like myself) to put their hands together with the beat. Another highlight was the theremin playing, because theremins are awesome and I didn’t notice it until it was put to use even though it had been on stage the whole time. We even sang “Happy Birthday” to the bassist’s mother (assuming he must be at least somewhat local). I muchly enjoy buying records at shows these days (still bitter I didn’t have the cash to purchase Kaputt at the Destroyer show in March) so I picked up the Mighty EP on my way out and I’m sure it will get some solid spins this summer. Especially if I actually put the screens in my bedroom windows this summer so that I can actually open them. And the best part about seeing a band with just a few EPs is that you know they’re going to play all of your favorite songs, which in this case happens to be all of them.
Now, I’m not comparing them to Akron/Family, but after having to leave their show before they even took the stage when they were in town back in February, I feel as though Lord Huron was able to give me that same sense of excitement that comes with an Akron/Family show. It’s just another reason that I will continue to go to shows solo if I have to, because I would have been disappointed to have missed out on a great Monday night such as this, one that left me satisfied musically and gave me the sense that summer concert season was finally here.
PS. Dont judge me for the quasi out of focus pictures. I’m out of practice and was having too much fun dancing.
Ben is quite the hottie.
[Reply]