Music / Reviews
Review: Lord Huron, Bristol Beacon – ‘Immersive and cinematic’
Lord Huron, a solo project turned band founded by Ben Schneider, took to the Bristol Beacon on Thursday, delivering a set that redefined the bar for live music performance.
Made popular by a selection of folk-infused, mystical tracks including Meet Me In The Woods and, most notably, The Night We Met, Lord Huron has often been categorised as sombre and introspective.
Their performance on Thursday, however, proved they are so much more.
The gig was opened by Dublin rock band Pillow Queens, who delivered a wonderful blend of punk rock and queer pop that was really great to watch.
Featuring soaring choruses and beautifully interwoven harmonies, the band transformed Beacon Hall into the end credits of some kind of magical, coming-of-age movie.
With the scene set by Pillow Queens, and smoke slowly filling the stage in an atmospheric, moody twist, an old phone rang out across the stage.
As the phone’s disembodied voice spoke of the cosmos and fate in a poetic nod to the band’s new album, The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1, the gig began to feel more like a theatre piece than a concert.
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The gig cleverly combined beautiful staging, candid moments, thoughtful additions and interactions with the crowd that created a totally immersive, cinematic set that was genuinely unlike anything I’d seen before.
Clad in suits and backdropped by shimmering foil curtains and hazy lights, there was a nostalgic, somewhat crooner-like feel to Lord Huron’s stage presence.
As the band roared through psychedelic, Americana-esque rock numbers and serenaded the crowd with gorgeous indie folk ballads, I found myself well and truly transported into the world they had so meticulously created.
The band serenaded the crowds at Beacon Hall – photo: Susie Long
This immersion, and the ability to create a through-composed experience that sweeps you along its musical journey, is something that Lord Huron has mastered entirely.
Speaking about the new album during the gig, Schneider emphasised this need to experience their music fully: “Make yourself a cocktail, sit out on your porch … you can go into your basement, I don’t care. But listen to the album front to back, start to finish, and in order.
“You might find, if you do, that it reveals new meanings to you – just as we intended it to.”
I have listened to Lord Huron’s music for years, but only ever to specific tracks in isolation.
This gig, and the incredibly detailed performance that accompanied it, demonstrated perfectly the power that thoughtful through-composition has.
I have indeed sat, cocktail in hand, and listened to the whole album since.
I wish my words could do the band’s storytelling justice, but I will have to resort to saying that The Cosmic Selector Vol. One feels like a very exciting direction for the band – I’m just hoping there’s a volume two!
Main photo: Susie Long
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