Photos by Cole Leuthel
Have you ever been to a concert that touches your soul? That you feel the passion pumping through your veins? The Local Natives first show of their tour at the Danforth Music Hall on Thursday March 16th, just so happened to be one of those shows. It has been three years since playing in Toronto, and boy did they ever make up for not making an appearance in Toronto for their last tour.
Opening up was Montreal based band, Little Screams. This was the perfect opener for such an amazing show, as the band was extremely talented and unified. They had a relaxed vibe about them which brought a cool tone to the crowd. Laurel Sprengelmeyer’s beautiful voice was definitely one to remember, along with her performing a brand new single (unfortunately I did not catch the name) in which all proceeds from it go to the ALCU and Planned Parenthood.
Local Natives opened their set with dimmed lights, and then took the stage with a burst of energy and passion. I have been waiting quite some time to see them live but was really unsure of what kind of vibe they would bring to the table and they presented so much more than I expected. They opened the set with “Past Lives”, which got the show started on the right foot. The set-list was a perfect mixture of the new and the old, and I loved the fact that they would basically play one newer song, than an older one, etc- it was a perfect blend for the new and older fans.
“You know when you walk by someone and you just immediately fall in love with them? That’s what this song is about”, explained Taylor Rice before an empowering performance of Jellyfish. Additionally, the performance contained an exciting lightshow with colour’s of pink and blue occupying the room, as the piano tune echoed ever so beautifully.
In terms of their newer album, I must say that I was much more impressed with it live. I also read in a review how the song “Fountain of Youth” is “jarring” and that it is difficult to feel the passion and believe the words in the chorus however, this is incredibly incorrect. Seeing all the band members up there singing “We can do whatever we want” so beautifully and passionately, left me with the exact opposite impression. Local Natives is an impressive band who gives their all, and mean what they sing. Sure their newer songs may not be as intricate however, this doesn’t take the passion out of what they say just because they are trying to take a bit of a fresher and optimistic direction. I think that “Fountain of Youth” is an important song that carries such a valuable message, all about today’s youth and the importance of how it is evolving.
Toronto artist Charlotte Day Wilson made an appearance to perform “Dark Days” with the band, which was a flawless performance.
“This one is a treat” said Nik Ewing before performing an amazingly passionate performance of “Colombia”. I really did love the whole concert but, the performance of this song touched me so deeply even bringing tears to my eyes. Ewing has a voice that is not only identical, but even better than it sounds on record. The emotion was ever so present, and as the soft strumming began I could feel the intensity and emotion building up inside of me as Ewing began to sing “ Am I giving enough?”.
I think what makes the band so talented and the performance so special is the incredible amount of energy the band perpetuates in every note they strum, sing, drum- everything. Additionally, all 5 of the band members sing, and all of their voices go together so perfectly.
