Wednesday, February 24, 2016
The Music Hall, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
The Lone Bellow is my favorite band. Seeing The Lone Bellow perform is a spiritual experience—their passionate, soulful, high-octane live show is heartbreaking, uplifting, and kind of stunning. I’ve been fortunate to see them a half dozen times or so times now, and they never bring anything less than 100% to the stage. If anything, my love for a particular show of theirs has to do with how close to the stage I’m able to be. I love The Music Hall in Portsmouth and have seen The Lone Bellow there twice. The sound quality is beautiful, but I do prefer a standing room show where I can be right underneath the band to better see their facial expressions and enjoy their banter up close and personal.
My steadfast concert buddy Colin told me about this show while I was having a bummer of a Christmas. Buying my ticket to join him for this show was a big pick-me-up. We met up for a delicious dinner at Flatbread in downtown Portsmouth and made our way over to The Music Hall on the early side to catch Nashville’s Escondido. Jessica Maros and Tyler James are alt-country Escondido. Their bedazzled costumes were beautiful and they have a comfortable stage presence. Jessica has a beautiful voice. I particularly liked “Heart Is Black” and “Try.” Escondido has had some success being picked up to be played on TV shows like Nashville and Girls, so I expect you’ll be hearing even more from them in the days ahead.
Escondido
One of The Lone Bellow’s songs is aptly titled “You Can Be All Kinds of Emotional,” because this band takes you on an emotional ride that gives you all the feels. I absolutely loved when Zach, Brian, and Kanene stepped to the front of the stage and played “Lovely in Blue,” “Watch Over Us,” and “Looking For You” unplugged. You could have heard a pin drop. I love Kanene’s powerful vocals on “Call To War” (I’m front and center and ecstatic to be there in this video), and the band wrapped their long set with a handful of commanding, driving songs—“Take My Love,” “You Never Need Nobody,” “Teach Me to Know,” and “Green Eyes and a Heart of Gold.” As if they hadn’t already left everything they had on stage, the band came back for an encore—“Then Came the Morning”—and asked us to sing along. It was a lovely way to end a beautiful, spirited night together. Thank you for being you, The Lone Bellow, and giving us so much of yourselves. Until next time.
xo,
bree
The Lone Bellow
Unplugged
whatbreesees 