One might not think an indie rock show would go hand-in-hand with Halloween, but Monday night's concert at the Larimer Lounge begged to differ. The Larimer Lounge hosted two local bands and a national band that each brought a different take on indie rock, but all delivered their music in a high-energy fashion that really helped celebrate the night. The Larimer Lounge was full of music fans with the Halloween spirit, and each performer did well to work with that energy and deliver a memorable concert experience.
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| School Knights |
First up was local indie rock band School Knights. This four-piece band opened the night, showing their Halloween spirit by being adorned with drawn on whiskers. Michael Stein was back on lead vocals/guitars with Zack Roif still on drums, but Benjamin Donehower slid over to guitar, while a new member was on bass since the last time I saw this band. This band still produced their energetic punk-garage sound that featured a coastal, almost surf pop-rock influence mated to songs with youthful energy and carefree attitude draped in a lo-fi aesthetic. They performed a good opening set, getting the crowd into an indie rock mood with the spidery guitar riffed and noise-punk styled "
You Read Books?" being a standout song from their performance. If you are into slightly pop-styled indie garage rock, School Knights is a good band to check out.
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| Gauntlet Hair |
Next up was local indie noise-rockers Gauntlet Hair. Gauntlet Hair is the product of singer/guitarist Andy R. (Andy Rauworth) and drummer Craig Nice (Craig Fleischman) who created a contagious blend of noisy, rhythmic and lively guitar, electronic drums, and echoey vocals that put together makes an indie rock package that has a very experimental noise-pop appeal. To perform live, they enlisted the help of bassist Matt Daniels and guitarist Nathan Wright. The last time I saw Gauntlet Hair, they performed as a three-piece, so the added guitar helped enhance the overall sound, giving the guitars another layer of depth.
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| Gauntlet Hair |
The members of Gauntlet Hair were literally dripping in Halloween spirit, donning rooster masks while covered in fake blood. They began their set with the opener from their new self-titled album, "
Keep Time", a song that immediately smacked the audience's ears with the characteristic components of Gauntlet Hair's sound and initiated a frenetic dance floor response. They played a good mix of songs off of their new album, with other standout tracks like "
Shout In Tongues" and "
Mop It Up". They also managed to work in some of their older songs as well, like "
Out, Don't" and "
I Was Thinking...".
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| Gauntlet Hair |
They delivered an energetic set with the signature sound the audience was looking for, although one song was curiously absent from their set - "
Top Bunk". Although my favorite song was missing, the set was still played very well and showcased what consists of this band's sonic identity. The added dimension of a second guitar really gave the band more oomph in their live sound, and I think it translated the album sound to the live setting much better than the three-piece iteration I saw before - they've nailed it when it comes to delivering the live package. Gauntlet Hair has a sound apart from most music out there, and fans of noise-rock and indie-pop should not hesitate to check out this band, they just might blow your mind.
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| Unknown Mortal Orchestra |
Unknown Mortal Orchestra came out last to close out the night, delivering a set of their pop flavored indie-rock goodness. Lead vocalist/guitarist Ruban Nielson came out in papal dress, drummer Julien Ehrich wore a priest's robe, and bassist Jake Portrait was dressed as a nun. The trio delivered their catchy pop-laced indie rock tunes with a spirited flair, adding an extra layer of rock 'n' roll that made their live set absolutely epic.
The set began with a heavy driving classic rock styled guitar riff while the other two members followed along on bass and drums. Ruban Nielson introduced each band member like they were entering an arena to the feverish crowd. After the introductory build-up, the hard rock riff transitioned into souped up version of "
Strangers Are Strange", performed much heavier - more hard rock than pop - than the album version, with extra guitar shredding from Ruban that stretched out the length of the song. The album version goes by abruptly in about two and a half minutes. The live version seemed to go by just as quickly, but with the introduction it was nearly seven minutes of pure awesome.
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| Unknown Mortal Orchestra |
Next, Unknown Mortal Orchestra performed "
Thought Ballune" and "
FFunny FFriends", although this time they were pretty faithful to the album versions, which was absolutely fine as it allowed the crowd to dance and sing along wildly. "
Little Blu House" seemed to follow that same vein, albeit with a little heavier guitar added in, but it was another song that was elevated to epic status, nearly doubled in length with incredible blistering solo guitar solo work from Ruban Nielson. Ruban Nielson continued to exhibit his guitar mastery with the following two songs, "
Nerve Damage!" and "
Boy Witch". In fact, he shredded so hard on the extended live performance of "
Boy Witch", he ended up snapping the high E string on his guitar.
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| Unknown Mortal Orchestra |
That left Unknown Mortal Orchestra to perform one more song, in which Ruban explained "It's gonna sound weird because I broke a string but it's OK." They finished with the incredibly catchy "
How Can You Luv Me" to the delight of the crowd, and despite being played with a broken string, it was definitely much better than OK. It was played with what seemed to be a little faster tempo, and a more rock 'n' roll feel, this time allowing bassist Jake Portrait to show off his musicality with some fancy bass work.
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| Unknown Mortal Orchestra |
The audience wouldn't let them end it there though, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra was called back to the stage after immediate calls for an encore from the rabid crowd. Still brandishing a guitar with a broken string, the band decided to close the night with a cover song for an encore, which was cool because it hinted at an influence to what made up the Unknown Mortal Orchestra sound. The band covered experimental psychedelic/progressive rock band Can's song "
Vitamin C", also giving it the epic extended treatment. It was an awesome rendition, and made me realize were a lot of Unknown Mortal Orchestra's funky psych-pop sound comes from.
It was so much better going into Unknown Mortal Orchestra's concert this time being very familiar with their songs compared to the first time I saw them not knowing who they were. Not only was I able to enjoy their music better because I recognized what they were doing, it was also a lot of fun catching some of the different ways Unknown Mortal Orchestra chose to perform their songs - it made the performance all that much more special since those versions of the songs only existed in that finite space in time. They were incredible Monday night, and I felt lucky to have spent Halloween with them. If you haven't caught this band live but love their songs, they will blow you away with what they do live.
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