Show Review – Milo Greene @ the Parish (6.5)
Wednesday night proved to be a sold out show for Los Angeles band, Milo Greene, at the Parish. Fans were excited to hear how the group would transfer their sound from their self-titled folksy debut to the live setting.
Openers and Austin locals, Blue Bear took the stage around 9:00pm, stating that their goal was simply to amp up the crowd for the headlining act. And amp they did, playing a short set designed to wow and win them some fans in their short amount of stage time. From their first song, it was obvious as to why they were slated for this opening slot, as their four part vocal harmonies and guitar heavy music went straight to the hearts of the audience. Though initially intriguing and engaging the audience, by their third song, the phones started to come back out in full force, illuminating the darkened crowd at the Parish until it was obvious that they had lost the patience of the audience. Blue Bear hung around after the show with their merch, but not a lot of folks stopped by to say hello during the mass exodus, which isn’t to say their set was bad, but forgettable.
It is difficult these days for an opener to hold the audience when people don’t really show up until halfway through the set and geared up to hear one band, and one band only. Riding the waves off their first full-length debut, the five members of Milo Greene took the stage and set off immediately on their way, creating a large amount of sound to open audience’s ears and remind them that they were there to hear some well crafted tunes. Along with this opening with waves of sound, you could tell that the group wasn’t going to be as quietly folksy as on their album, but kick it up a notch and fully flesh out the songs with a bigger sound, and one that was more straight rock than folk.
The band themselves all moved very fluidly with each other; each member seemed engaged and committed to playing their music for their fans. The instruments and lead vocals were traded from song to song as they worked their way through their short collection of available tracks. Added to the mix was my personal highlight of the show—a cover of Sufjan Stevens “Chicago,” which is a great song in the first place, but was given some extra power with the vocal harmonies that Milo Greene bring to the table. Though it was a great moment in the show, it was also a moment of that showcased the disparity between the bands live sound and album sound. Somewhere along the way, the band lost their signature sound in an effort to increase the energy of their live performance.
Regardless, when they finally got to the lead single “1957,” as the last song before the encore, the crowd screamed in delight and took out their phones to record what was clearly the song that had gotten them interested in this band. It was an enjoyable performance but the difference between the live and studio setting really diminished the subtle power that works so well on their album, causing the show to seem a bit forced at times.