It’d been quite some time since I’d seen Annuals, and much had happened since catching them at SXSW: they’d stayed on the road since, touring extensively in Europe and playing most of the major festivals across the pond (Reading, Roskilde) and over here (Lollapalooza). They also signed to Virgin in the UK, and released Be He Me on the Moshi Moshi imprint. For a bunch of 20 year olds, they’re still doing quite well.

So how does all this affect their live show? Mostly that it just keeps getting easier and easier from them, apparently. I don’t think that playing a big empty pool is an ideal venue for them (too much gear and too much space to make it sound right), but they’re able to cruise through their set, not missing a beat. The highlights of the show are still the moments when they bring three drummers strong, giving a rhythmic, muscular base to the pretty, wistful melodies that make up the best moments of their debut. I’m looking forward to what they do next, as what has always been most appealing about Annuals was the enormous potential I hear and see in their music.

On this day I was more excited to see Band of Horses, as Everything All the Time was one of my favorite records of last year, a record that’s aged very well. And I’d never seen Band of Horses, so I wanted to know if that which makes them special on the record exists in their live show. They played most of their debut, and added in a few new songs, which seemed pretty good. The sound, unfortunately, was muddy and generally terrible. However, as is one of the marks of a good band, I still had a good time listening to them and hanging out with my friends on a perfect sunny day for a show. A friend of mine had a very different experience than me, and honestly I remember this show more from his description than mine, which is something like this:

“I was backstage at the show, catching up with some good friends that I’d not had the chance to see for a while. My friends also happen to be pretty tight with Band of Horses, and they’d had a good time fucking around with them before their set. We watched the show sitting at the back of the stage, directly behind the band. We spent our time heckling the drummer, throwing things at him and smoking grass while we caught up. Band of Horses sounded great, and some of the new songs floored me. But the highlight of the show was definitely when they played Funeral: the drummer turned to look back at us and did one of those excellent drumstick spins, pointed at us and nodded his head as he came crashing into the chorus with the rest of the band. It was a little surreal.”

Labels: Annuals, Band of Horses, Concert Reviews