While blue and red stage lights glimmered and a smoke machine churned on the Uptown's stage, the spotlight suddenly swung up to one of the balconies, at the top right corner of the venue. Hundreds of eyes turned towards Band of Horses' Ben Bridwell and Tyler Ramsey, who began waving to the crowd, parade-style. "The stage was just too big," explained Bridwell, before easing into a sweet, acoustic version of "Evening Kitchen."
After serenading the crowd with a rich, haunting rendition of "No One's Gonna Love You," Bridwell and Ramsey scampered down to the stage to meet the rest of the band, where the band blossomed into a more lush, symphonic sound in front of a gigantic projected animations that looked like postcards from Rocky Mountain National Park, come to life.
This isn't the first time in recent memory that Band of Horses has been to Kansas City; but this is one of the first times that they've sounded this nice. If you caught the band after it released Cease to Begin in 2007 -- the album that boasted "No One's Gonna Love You," "Is There A Ghost" and "The General Specific" -- you'll remember Band of Horses as a plucky, foot-stomping group of bearded guys with a sharp sense of humor and an underlying sweet, emotive sincerity. Now, it seems that the Seattle band has painted itself into a corner with its better-than-average soaring Americana ballads. It signed to a major label for its 2010 release, Infinite Arms, and released an album full of leisurely, sky-spanning tunes that sound a bit more grandiose, but a lot less spirited. It's unfortunate, because Band of Horses wants to rock. You could see the tension in their bodies last night.
Let's get all of these horse puns out of the way now: Band of Horses needs to run free. During its harder numbers, the band galloped full-speed towards a crusty, bluesy climax. After reining in the pace for another slog of pretty, lush balladry, the band seemed to be chomping at the bit until the next rock number. Phew.
It's hard for so many bands to hit that sweet spot of the Americana ballad without sounding too maudlin or canned. Songs like "Ode to LRC" were tinged with a little more Drive-By Truckers, and scaled back the commercial-friendly soundtrack vibe that many of the band's slower numbers indulged in. (The primary offender here may be the band's hit, "The Funeral," which was used in a Ford commercial once upon a time. Interesting side note: a duo of lighters came out during the sleepy opening guitar notes, and the rest of the venue lit up with iPhone screens.)
Halfway through the set, Bridwell left the stage again, and sang in the dark for a minute before the spotlight swept up to him on the balcony. For a brief moment, it resembled a Romeo and Juliet scene: Bridwell seemed to be serenading his band, with his hands outstretched, trying to keep time. He rolled back on stage effortlessly, just in time to snag the last verse.
Bridwell tossed his head back and forth, smoking a cigarette with a red Dixie cup in hand, while a red-illuminated swamp festered in the background on "Cigarettes, and Wedding Bands." The diaphanous delicacy of the band's previous numbers evaporated. The sheen of Bridwell's voice sounded cracked and weathered, and dirty, grungy guitar vibrated the Uptown's stage.
Band of Horses just might be badasses. It's time for them to let loose, and find out.
Critics' Bias: They put fucking keyboard on "General Specific," which was a boot-stomping, acoustic hootenanny the last time I saw it live. (It's also my favorite Band of Horses tune.)
Random Notebook Dump: The girl in front of me, clapping over her head to her embarrassed boyfriend, who asks her to stop, and then eventually joins her.
Overheard in the Crowd: "I LOVE YOU, HORSE BAND! THE FUNERAL!!!"
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My favorite part was during Evening Kitchen, some guy yells, "Lets rock and roll!"
That was the best.
The keyboardist, Ryan Monroe, wrote the song "Older". Love that song.
"The General Specific" is also my favorite BOH song, and I wasn't real hip to the keyboard addition either, but the most recent time I saw them they didn't play the song at all, so I'm glad I at least heard it!
If there's one thing I hate at every BOH show, it's the people yelling for "The Funeral". It's their "Free Bird", or something. This time there was the addition of drunk cougars behind me who wouldn't shut up...
I thought it was a great show in spite of all of that, though! Always a good show.
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