As promised, LA's Local Natives rolled through town last night and offered up a display well worthy of its critical acclaim. But we expected that much, really: Just like the band's powerful SXSW showcases, last night's set found the band revelling in all of its Yeasayer-meets-Fleet Foxes hype--and then some. Here's the thing about these guys: Their debut record, Gorilla Manor, really doesn't do the band much just at all. Live, Local Natives is a far more visceral group--far more gritty, too. The tribal underpinnings of the record are pushed to the forefront. So are the band's impressive four-part harmonies--something hinted at on record, for sure, but not nearly as powerfully and aggressively as the band does so live. In short: It was quite the treat.
Opening band Suckers, though? Uh, not so much. Emphasizing artiness and its oddball nature over any real semblance of sonic cohesion, the band's performance was something of a mess--an ugly combination of not-quite-on-point sound mixing from the in-room engineer and just really bad falsetto. There are interesting aspects at play in the band's sound for sure--but it's kind of like the opposite of Local Natives' deal. Whereas that band shines well past its recorded output in a live setting, Suckers does the exact opposite.
Even visually, you can tell the differences between these two acts' comfort levels. See for yourself in Mattie Stafford's slideshow from last night's gig.
Opening band Suckers, though? Uh, not so much. Emphasizing artiness and its oddball nature over any real semblance of sonic cohesion, the band's performance was something of a mess--an ugly combination of not-quite-on-point sound mixing from the in-room engineer and just really bad falsetto. There are interesting aspects at play in the band's sound for sure--but it's kind of like the opposite of Local Natives' deal. Whereas that band shines well past its recorded output in a live setting, Suckers does the exact opposite.
Even visually, you can tell the differences between these two acts' comfort levels. See for yourself in Mattie Stafford's slideshow from last night's gig.
