Photos By: Summer Luu
By: Becky Foreman
Dim lighting, giant vintage birdcages hanging above the stage, and a Florence Welch–Kate Bush-Victoria Legrand hybrid of a woman, tambourine in hand, arms outstretched. Thus Owls, had started the show.
Montreal-based, husband and wife duo Erika and Simon Angell, immediately had the crowd’s attention. Their songs took us through a journey of stories centered around the home and neighborhood Erika Angell grew up in. They kept the crowd entranced with their crescendo of intensity that had a way of not letting you take your eyes off of the stage. Trying to figure out who they reminded us of most (to which Beach House and Portishead came to mind), I think my friend said it best: “I feel like I’m in church and Erika Angell is the priest. In her flowing white robes and hands held high, she’s delivering us a sermon right now.” Hallelujah, Mr. and Mrs. Angell, Hallelujah!
Next up were The Antlers, and I can never get enough of them. Not many things can silence a crowd quite like the voice of Peter Silberman; which was apparent when a hush fell over the venue the moment the first notes began. I don’t know if it was the sermon we had just listened to, but within 1 minute of the Antler’s set, I could feel my eyes welling up with tears. What was going on? Peter’s voice, coupled with the slow steady sounds of the trumpet onstage next to him, was too much to bear! After feeling every emotion written in every lyric of the set, the crowd seemed to walk away in a blissful daze. Waiting to talk to Peter after the show, had me wondering if he would be as raw and intense to talk to, as the songs we had just sat through. This evening of beautiful music, ended not with me thanking him, or asking any questions about the show, but instead as follows. “Peter, let’s take a selfie”… “Ok, now one more..annnnd in this one, let’s be monsters”. Keep it classy, San Diego.
