CMJ started last night, and StyleCasters Elizabeth Monson, Mark Iantosca and I headed to Bowery Ballroom bizarr-o world Music Hall of Williamsburg to see the much buzzed about The Antlers play.
Walking in on the alt-country rock band Walter Schreifels Band, I winced at the press people who not only wore their bright orange press passes around their necks, but could not manage to stand the entire time. Guys, this is a concert, not the gate of a delayed flight. Stand up.
Elizabeth and I in the crowd. All photos by Mark Iantosca.
The dirty floor people were sitting on that doesn't look so bad now.
Anyway, moving right along...Another country band, The Wheel, played next and quickly commanded the audience's attention with their gorgeous harmonies and musicianship. It didn't hurt that the guitar player with the hat was hot and may or may not have been standing behind me during The Antlers' set. Regardless, to the attractive boy standing in my proximity, I'm sorry for staring.
The Wheel
Enjoying the quiet downstairs bar and reviewing photos.
Right before The Antlers, British folk singer/songwriter Laura Marling took the stage as everyone shushed one another. Personally, I'm not familiar with her music but the crowd certainly was as everyone sang along with the petite singer.
Laura Marling
The Antlers have been heralded for their heart-wrenching album Hospice--a concept album of a man watching a loved one die of cancer in a hospice. Despite the medical diction guiding the lyrical content, the songs are strong enough to be singles with language that does not come off as a forced story, but as genuinely beautiful music.
The exciting setting juxtaposed with the depressing album subject made me curious to see The Antlers. The crowd carried the same sentiment; I saw one college kid sneak in a full bottle of vodka and a soda chaser and proceed to clap (missing his own hand) to each song, while the girl beside me didn't move except to wipe the tears off her cheek.
The Antlers have already received well-deserved praise for their recorded songs. Live, however, The Antlers' music dynamically multiplied, and their sounds felt so big--especially the drums. Lead vocalist Peter Silberman's voice felt even more pained, with less of a falsetto on some tracks and a grittier rock feel. The Antlers put on an exceptional and impressive show that made me love their live performance more than their recorded songs.
Fanfarlo followed The Antlers as the headliners, but the photographer in front of me hit me a few too many times with his four cameras and with the full day of work preceding (and proceeding) the show, we had to call it a night.
