I got to see that latest indie sensation, Cults, in concert last night – I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The venue is the somewhat historic Iron Horse Music Hall (“IHEG”) in Northampton, Massachusetts. I’ve danced and booed quite a few times in the rustic setting – The Stars, Why? and The Blow have all been taken in at the former bohemian, hippy-dippy cafe. It’s fun, it’s intimate, they let you take pics during the performance sans a press pass.

My feeling about the openers for the duo, Writer and Guards, were mixed. Writer appears to be little more than a makeshift operation of tambourine-wielding bros… but they’re actually pretty okay. There’s something entertainingly demented about the two and their stripped down rough keyboarding and wailing. Call me crazy.

In contrast, Guards were just stupid. They fancy themselves a motley jam band, complete with excess guitarwork and weak background noises produced by a next-gen touchscreen mixer. Their setup was even weird: the chick with the mixer sat in a chair, tapping and scrolling occasionally, while three guys thrashed next to her. Inexplicably, the majority of their songs had incongruous interludes, varying from shoegazy drones to organ-esque rumblings.

Good thing Madeline Follin and Brian Oblivio brought the action. Ten or all of the tracks from their Cults made their way onto the set-list and each left an impression. In fact, I think I liked the live renditions better as there was less lo-fi echoing that I’ve come to associate with yuck indie acts like Beach House. “Oh My God” was unequivocally awesome and “The Curse” was thankfully even bluesier than on the album.

Madeline is clearly a great singer, a sweet and charismatic lead and enthused to be in front of a crowd. Brian’s an interesting fellow, regaling the audience with stories about taking acid and other cracked-out-ness. There were fuck ups, e.g. a sample playing before the rest of the music started, but the performers just laughed it off and the audience followed.

Would see again.

Cults – Oh My God by 1FTP

Photography courtesy of my boy Sabato at SabatoBox.