BrightestYoungThings: LIVEDC: Here We Go Magic @ Red Palace

all words: Robb Scott
all photos: Julian Vu

Red Palace DC… such an appropriate venue for Here We Go Magic—the Brooklynites shared their enchanting mix of folk and indie rock with a ready and willing audience. Despite the thin crowd, which is in no way a complaint, Luke Temple and crew presented a solid set with just as much excitement had it been a packed house.

Joining the band on their tour were fellow New Yorkers Caveman; a quintet of Average Joes with a lazy afro-beat/new wave sound. At the risk of upsetting any sensitive fans of the band, they seriously came off to me as just a bunch of middle-aged guys jamming in their man-cave a la I Love You Man (2009) or one intense session of Rock Band. They're instrumentation was quite impressive and their sound reminiscent of Local Natives. My man issue was the drowning out of their vocals under all the heavy percussion. It was truly a shame because the harmony of their voices sounded really warm. Then again, perhaps less vocal, more sound, was what they were aiming for.

An issue I take with artists during live performances almost without a doubt, is the lack of audience interaction—Caveman seemed oblivious not only to us as an audience, but each other as well. Each guy focused on his cues and not really vibbing off the others. At one point, the lead singer took a tumble and the other members barely batted an eye; he continued to play, which leads me to believe it was a forced fall, but, regardless, my point remains.

To be fair, they did provide a great atmospheric sound; one that created the perfect space of calm with which Here We Go Magic could seamlessly enter in to. They could be a pretty legitimate act in studio (I could see downloading their album) but live, I was left unmoved.

Enter stage right, and with improved audio levels, headliners Here We Go Magic. Being an admirer of fashion and style, I have to point out how adorable they all looked on stage—with special consideration given to the female members of the group.

Taking us through a journey of past and present with tracks from their two studio albums, Here We Go Magic and Pigeons as well as material off their recent EP The January, there was certainly enough to please both old and new fans alike. One eager fan unabashedly shouted out on more than a few occasions his desire to hear "Tulips"; a request that unfortunately went unfulfilled.

Unlike their openers, the band did make attempts here and there to interact with their audience in the form of comical banter—it's not much to ask for a little recognition, really it's not. The humble vibe which seemed to emanate from the stage established a spiritual feel within the space. The multi-instrumentation and the haunting chant-like backgrounds complimented their vocals perfectly—not retreating too much from their studio sound, but sounding uniquely live.

Watching them on stage, I felt as if I was watching a family jam band; once again, unlike their openers, you could just sense the closeness of the members. They seemed to genuinely enjoy playing with one another, feeding off each other's energy to create a musical symbiosis. At different points, Temple and bassist Jennifer Turner abandoned their guitars in favor of a shared space alongside Kristina Lieberson on the synth and keyboard.

Something I will say against the band, and this is more so a general critique of most live acts nowadays—the planned encore… it just seems to devalue the true purpose of an encore. My thoughts: don't leave the stage, we know you're going to be right back out in a couple minutes or so for an encore. Just cut the BS, and just play through, and then say goodnight. For those who get fooled by the false endings, they unfortunately miss out on the more spirited, spontaneous moment of the set.