Lord Huron @ Wonder Ballroom 1/22/2013
On Wednesday night, Lord Huron played to a sold out crowd at the Wonder Ballroom. This may very well be the last time we see them in a small room. Ben Schneider jumped right into it with, singing “I land on an island coast where all the souls I see are ghosts” from the single “Lonesome Dreams”. It was an apropos start given that much of the audience had likely seen the well produced video of Schneider scaling rocks on a lonely haunted island. They followed with the existential “The Man Who Lives Forever” showing off Schneider’s songwriting ability. You wouldn’t know the band was out of LA with songs like “She Lit a Fire” which grabbed the audience’s attention as they killed every warm note, sounding more northern folk than anything else.
The energy in the room didn’t peak until the breakdown of “Time to Run” when three glowing yellow orbs emanated from behind the stage, entrancing the crowd. Kudos to the lighting crew who did a great job throughout the night. Lord Huron’s music is visual to begin with, from the imagery in the lyrics to the feeling of being out in the wilderness inherent in the music. Some of that is lost, however, in a live performance. So the light show added a nice atmospheric quality to the show.
Most of the music they played was from the Lonesome Dreams album, and there are definitely still comparisons to bands like Fleet Foxes to be made. Overall, Lord Huron put on an outstanding show. They’re a well polished band that seems to thrive on giving the audience a fulfilling experience, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them filling arenas after another record or two under their belt.
Words by Scott McHale