In the cluttered stressed-out existence that is life in D.C., live music is one of the few remaining experiences that can transcend time and transport us into a new frame of mind.
Man – that’s a hippie sentence – but re-read it one more time.
It is true. Every show you’ve attended was a different experience.
Anything can impact what we take away from these nights out: expectations, knowledge of the band’s catalogues, going with a group of friends, the venue, the sound guy, etc. But at the end of the night, we’re lucky enough to spend a few hours enjoying live music and not worrying about a job – transported from our day to day for a while.
So with that in mind –that live music can be transcendent – there are a handful of concerts you attend in your lifetime where you actually can feel a band breaking into the mainstream of success.
The Lone Bellow show at DC9 on April 17th was one of those shows.
The Brooklyn band, play melodic folk and rely on strong vocal harmonies to drive their sound. Three part harmonies are led by Georgia native Zach Williams.
Brooklyn folk rock is not necessarily anything new in this era of “recession rock” but the story of how Zach came to form the band certainly is.
Zach’s wife was temporarily paralyzed in a horse-riding accident while the couple lived in the south. Doctors initially believed she would never walk again.
The hospital staff asked Zach to deal with his grief and anxiety by recording his feelings. His journals were written in rhyme and at the recommendation of a friend, were slowly turned into songs.
His heartfelt lyrics and the desperation that comes through in his powerful voice grab listeners immediately. The song “Tree to Grow” brings to mind grappling with a sick loved one:
‘I’ll never leave, I’ll always stay, I swear on all that I keep safe. A tree I’ll grow to let you know my love is older than my soul.’
Zach and his recovering wife (she walks just fine now) took their lives to Brooklyn and a few years later The Lone Bellow were formed and began playing shows regularly in the Northeast.
Their debut album, released in January of this year, has been in heavy rotation across the NPR landscape and my anticipation for this show was through the roof.
The band set out on a national tour opening for Seattle natives Ivan and Alyosha , a melodic indie group worth checking out as well.
The groups were originally slated to only play one show at DC9 but they sold out so quickly that DC9 asked for two sets.
Both the early and late shows sold out.
As The Lone Bellow took the stage, the room pulsed with excitement. It didn’t seem like the normal beginning of a show. The audience was way less a group of spectators – more like active participants – eager to push this band to greater heights.
After the first two songs Zach had to stop and acknowledge that everyone in the room was shouting along to all his lyrics.
“We’ve played three shows today, and shit, all you guys are singing so well. It’s beautiful up here.”
Williams was referring to the Tiny Desk concert the band performed that morning for NPR and the set that finished just a few hours earlier. He appeared onstage if he was on the verge of collapse, putting every last ounce of energy he had into his harmonies.
As the show continued Williams’ stage presence became clearer. He is a man who possesses that rare ability to simultaneously tune his guitar, joke with the crowd, and maintain a room’s focus.
When some piercing feedback picked up in the monitors between songs Williams joked, “oh yeah, and were selling bags of feedback alongside our t-shirts over at the merch table.”
Laughs all around.
By the end of the night I was convinced that this was the best show I have seen in 2013.
Ivan and Alyosha followed with a commendable set that on any other night would have left me quite impressed. But it was clear that the main attraction for the night had left the stage. The room all of sudden seemed empty.
I got on the bus that night feeling like I had participated in the beginning of something bigger during The Lone Bellow set.
It was the same feeling I had the first time the Lumineers came through town and blew the roof off DC9; the taste of something yet to come.
Every now and then, you get lucky and see a concert that leaves you excited just to have been there, to one day be able to boast – yeah I saw them one Wednesday way back when and everyone in the room knew they’d become superstars.
The band just played Leno last week. The summer of Lone Bellow has begun.
Do not miss out.
The Lone Bellow – Bleeding Out
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