Seeing a band that you’ve really been enjoying can be a blessing and a curse. Sometimes seeing a band you really like can be a blessing; you finally get to see the band that’s been inducing underwear dance parties in your room for so long. Sometimes seeing a band you really like can be a curse; they can leave you feeling under whelmed, put on a terrible performance, the sound can be terrible, or who knows what else.
With all of this in my mind, I made my way to Le Poissone Rouge in the West Village to see one of my favorite bands as of late: Wild Beasts.
At 7:30, the lights dimmed as Marques Toliver, a one man band came stepped on stage. From Toliver displayed his wonderful talent as he gracefully played the xylophone and belted out soulful and heartfelt vocals. All of this blended into a beat, deftly played with a kickdrum while Toliver was doing everything else. As the artist continued his set, Marques replaced the xylophone with a violin; still producing a full sound all while his voice soared through throughout the venue. Though his set was rather short, it was all about quality and not quantity – a great warm up for Wild Beasts.
After making sitting through an eternity of sound check hell, Wild Beasts finally began their set. While the guys strapped on their instruments, I got a little nervous; what if they didn’t live up to my expectations? With all of the time I’d spent listening to the guys, I braced myself just in case they failed – in an epic fashion.
As Wild Beasts began playing their instruments, a serene fog billowed out over the audience. While the fog poured out, everyone in the audience soon became hushed and relaxed, all while Wild Beasts started taking over the room. Singer Hayden’s rhythmic swaying led everyone in the room to follow is slow, soothing dance moves. As chills ran up my spine, bass vibrations started to shake me to my core. But things started to change when Wild Beasts played “This is Our Lot”. Soon after the band began, the crowd stopped swooning and started shaking their hips, and this continued into “Hooting and Howling”, and even during the bands encore of “All the King’s Men”.
Watching Wild Beasts play a show I couldn’t help but notice what a natural connection the band displayed. Each member played off of the other so naturally, all while showing love and appreciation to the crowd for taking in the band’s set. Seeing Wild Beasts tonight was a blessing. Not only were my expectations met, they were surpassed and I’ll be waiting for them to come back to New York — hopefully sooner than later.
Check out Wild Beasts here.
