Show Review: Here We Go Magic @ The Sidewinder (11.18)

Tuesday night had me forsaking all other responsibilities to hit up this early show at The Sidewinder— I just couldn’t resist the chance to check out this bill of both local and touring bands. Read on after the jump for some thoughts on the chilly evening of folksy tunes and indie rock.

 

Up first were Cross Record, a local band that we are getting really stoked to see flourish in the near future with the release of their new record that’s coming in January. Despite early door times, a nice number of people turned up to see the combination of Emily Cross and Dan Duszynski who generated quite a large sound for just the two of them up on the stage. Their set was brief, and I’ll admit that there was some sound issues with feedback that were prevalent enough to slightly detract from the set, but on the whole was dominated by the ethereal folk sound that this band does really well. I ended this set with a firm desire to catch these two again in another setting– lead single, “Steady Waves” of their new album was ferocious live and the highlight of their set.

Next were Big Thief, a group out of New York who have been following around the headliners on their US tour. This four piece served as a lovely transitional band from the outright folk tunes of Cross Record and into the indie rock of Here We Go Magic. I went in without doing much prior listening to this band, and was pleasantly surprised at their combination of big and small sound, centered around Adrienne Lenker’s smokey vocals. They’ve got kind of a bluesy tinge to their rock music, but channel folk with that ever-present vocal performance. Go take a listen to them. Do it.

Here We Go Magic were, as expected, perfectly subtle and nuanced in their building indie rock tunes. Luke Temple’s warm and melancholic vocals resounded perfectly in the crisp fall air, and the ever-growing sound of the five piece invited the constant bobbing of the crowd. They played some new tracks of their most recent release, Be Small, which grew loud and robust in the live setting, including “Falling” which was fantastic and shows how this band has mastered the simmering indie rock tune, as near the end of the track the band really ripped into the rock. Other highlights for me were “Collector” and “How Do I Know,” so call me a lover of singles, if you will, but these songs were instances where the whole band really got into the performance and fed off the crowd. All in all it was a lovely evening and well worth the time.