Dream pop band Winter entertained a surprisingly large crowd Monday, September 25th at Blonde Bar.
Winter
You can never tell how a weeknight show is going to go. It can either be a complete bust or it can be surprisingly bumpin’. For the Winter show, it was the latter, although it did seem a little dead when the opener White Guilt started their set at 10 P.M.
Oceanside’s own White Guilt plays music that evokes dark wave bands like Black Marble, Drab Majesty, as well as some older dark 80’s music like Bauhaus and Flock of Seagulls. They looked the part as well, wearing all black, while the singer sported a dangly earring. The band is only two members – one played guitar and sang while the other programmed synths and drums and played bass.
Minor Gems from San Diego played next. They’re a five-piece: two guitars, a bassist, keyboardist, and drummer, who sound like the chill, lazy rock music of Mac DeMarco and The Allah-Las. One song veered into reggae territory–a nice touch that varied up the set.
Minor Gems had some sound issues–the singer wasn’t pleased with the volume coming from his monitors and there was slight drama over whether or not the keyboards should be turned down or not. The issue was resolved eventually. “Sorry for the technical difficulties,” the singer said to the audience.
When LA-based dream pop group Winter played their opening song, the room had filled up substantially. Considering it was Monday night, a good group of people came to see this up and coming band.
Winter is the project of Brazilian born Samira Winter. Her debut album Supreme Blue Dream is a gorgeous collection of dreamy rock songs with catchy melodies, ethereal vocals, and lush guitars.
Live, Winter was fun and sounded well rehearsed. Front woman Samira Winter wasn’t afraid to show people she was having fun. She was all smiles, jumping around with her blue flower pattern guitar without shoes, a colorful outfit, and orange colored hair. She even dedicated “Wherever You Are,” to her cat, Zooey. Who doesn’t love a rock song dedicated to a cat? It’s great to see a band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously.
Even though her newest song, “Jaded,” is about being put off by the over-saturated and sometimes ambivalent music scene, Samira didn’t seem jaded one bit. Let’s hope she stays that way!