Finishing the first leg of their US tour, Lord Huron recently performed at Ovation Hall, tucked into Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, NJ. The indie folk-rock band is touring in support of their latest release, "The Cosmic Selector Vol. 1," which sets the stage between a glowing phone booth and an oversized Select-O-Matic jukebox.
Lord Huron's albums are all based in narrative storytelling with loosely recurring characters and themes that influence aspects of the tour, which have manifested in the past as a skeleton mask and cowboy hat tied to certain songs' performances. Tonight, we had a call waiting for us, ringing this glowing payphone off the hook. But before answering, we had a guest visiting our stage.
THAO
Alt/indie singer Thao Nguyen, THAO, opened for the band on this leg of the tour. My initial impression of THAO was her fearless and easily read emotions as she put everything into her performance. Comments from the crowd echoed this, as I overheard how much one fan “lov[ed] her facial expressions.” Her voice is also incredibly unique—a breathy, punctual word delivery that's engaging and pleasing to keep up with.
The performance of "Temple" was powerful, with THAO introducing it as a song that was “written in the words of my mom to me, telling me about what it’s like to live through the Vietnam War and what it means to be free.” Announcing itself with a commanding guitar riff and slowly built by drums, its militaristic start quickly mellows with chords of keys and is cut into an emotional and descriptive setting of her mother’s story. It's emotional, scary, compelling, motivating, and just very well done.
LORD HURON
Cast back into darkness, lone blue spotlights revealed band members one at a time until a final beam hung above the now glistening phone booth center stage. Music began with distinct guitar lines and backing drums as the phone began to float up off the hook into the air, rising above the booth and silhouetted against the stage’s backdrop to cue in Lord Huron's single, "Who Laughs Last."
Through the phone, a low-fidelity narration from Kristen Stewart set a tense scene as lead vocalist Ben Schneider entered the stage and answered, plucking the phone from the air and singing into the transmitter that had been prepared as a secret microphone. The phone booth also sported a camera on the inside for Ben to play into as he shouted into the phone before slamming it on the hook and turning to face the crowd center stage and swinging his guitar to his chest. The showman had begun unraveling his story.
Reining in the energy, "Looking Back" slowed the pace to a focused acoustic lyrical piece before setting his foot on the gas with "Bag of Bones." Lord Huron's sound is a one-to-one of their recordings, except it's fuller and more real from the stage. There is a professional air to the group that precedes them, as seen in their confidence, tight sound, and attention to detail in the performance’s delivery.
Lord Huron set the concert against a familiar Western aesthetic as moons rose and fell, alternating with the sun, breaking up as songs demanded individualistic visuals that were sometimes experimental and sometimes narrative. Flickering lighting pointed to the Cosmic Selector’s malfunctioning, and Ben interacted with the visuals in choreographed movement, returning to the phone booth for low-fidelity sound and a staggering visual performance to the camera, making it a fully realized production of the art and vision of the album in addition to just the music.
Leaning into the mic, Ben narrated, “The first act finds our cast of characters in strange but familiar territory… a casino. How 'bout an old familiar tune to ease your troubles?" before his vocal calls gave away the track reaching back 14 years into Lord Huron's discography with "Ends of the Earth” and “The Ghost on the Shore." Their instrumentation has always been intriguing: harmonious vocals over an ear-candy descending guitar run that feels like hitting a dead sprint or soothing harmonica on a delicate track that allows for a long, drawn-out intro before ever hearing his voice.
The band has great taste in timing. Frequently, they allowed the audience to just bask in the spirit of a song. This varied, but at times, once a song would end, they allowed a minute or two of instrumental continuation—an ambient fulfillment in excess of the crowd’s cheers until they, too, just sat with the feelings of the night. Ben may vocalize, but as an echoed call that's shouted into the mic from feet away, placing his voice much deeper into the world of music, much more like a passing ship than the lighthouse’s beam.
Lord Huron also features poetic love stories that are weighted with passion. "Wait by the River" had emotion pouring off the stage, palpable in the audience. Among the figures shrouded in the shadow of the crowd were lovers intertwined in swaying embraces, their silhouettes melting into one under the haze above them as they danced together. Ben's smooth, velvety voice relentlessly pulled their hearts in closer to his as waves of somber ballads lulled them through the night. It was a romantic concert in the way that each song was just beautifully performed.
Incredibly talented musicians, they didn't merely stick to one instrument. For "Twenty Long Years," bassist Miguel Briseño balanced a cello, and drummer Mark Barry wielded a marching drum hung from his shoulder. Joined by guitarist Tom Renaud, the trio remained a tight-knit pocket of music from the side stage as Ben sang the western folk ballad. A backdrop of piano and violin from their touring musicians floated the song’s emotion through the venue.
The sliding steel guitar of Tom then gives way to the next track, bleeding between a swell of notes and emotion under Ben’s admission of "I Lied." Emerging from the smoky shadows of the stage would be touring pianist and singer Misty Boyce, answering the beautifully written duet detailing a lover's departure that was mutually pined for but never spoken of. The performance was incredibly romantic, an intimate duet that initially shared a single spotlight, cascading the two into a shared dance of attention. The chemistry of their conversing voices a fleeting beauty, wishing to never end.
Closing the night with the band’s most well-known song, with multiple billions of streams across platforms, was "The Night We Met." It is a haunting, vulnerable, heartbroken tale that finished the performance with a slow, reflective piece of music. An extended outro capitalized on this emotion before a bowing of the band and an exit offstage. The modern tradition of feigning a show's end is given away by its reprisal, building layers of emotion and drawing out that yearning for a glimpse of time gone by before the band’s return to the stage for a three-song encore.
"The World Ender," "Not Dead Yet," and "It All Comes Back" would yield a final raise of their instruments and a full bow on stage, and Ben left all alone center stage. All lights dimmed save a semicircular halo of white light as a backdrop, a silhouette matching his. As he takes steps forward, his silhouette follows, reaching forward; his silhouette shatters into a cloud of particles, and the room is cast into black, forced to await the second volume of a story yet to be finished.
Conclusion
Lord Huron heads back on the road in July, touring through Canada and the US, continuing the story and journey of the Cosmic Selector. Their talent, attention to detail, and overall production are magnificent, true professionals whose care and artistic vision are felt in every aspect of their show, on and off stage.
Setlist
Who Laughs Last / Looking Back / Bag of Bones / Ends of the Earth / The Ghost on the Shore / Wait by the River / Secrets of Life / Used to Know / Ancient Names, Pt. I / Long Lost / Twenty Long Years / Watch Me Go / I Lied / Le Belle Fleur Sauvage / Frozen Pines / Meet Me in the Woods / The Night We Met / The World Ender / Not Dead Yet / It All Comes Back
