Approximately 18 months ago, Band Of Horses adorned The Enmore Theatre stage on their Infinite Arms tour and won many new fans with a fusillade of American rock and roll.
Lead vocalist Ben Bridwell said at the time he felt that Infinite Arms was truly the first Band Of Horses release. Even though it was album #3, Bridwell was pleased to record an album with a steady assemblage instead of the revolving door of musicians the outfit had experienced during their initial stages.
Tonight they displayed that they may be at the peak of their game.
You could sense that the Horses were champing at the bit to stretch out a bit longer than they were able to do at their Big Day Out festival sets. Infinite Arms was sampled quite a bit during the first third of the gig and “For Annabelle” started proceedings with a delicate guitar riff by Tyler Ramsey, as Bridwell supplies vocals and harmonica.
“Islands On The Coast” built to the anthem that it is and three songs in you could feel the pulse from the stage begin to further infect the audience. The harmonies of Bridwell, Ramsey, and Ryan Monroe really came to the forefront here.
Bridwell has a high tenor that in style has been compared to Neil Young and Jim James but tonight the thought of how similar it sounded to Jon Anderson from Yes came to mind.
With a fairly stripped back stage setting it was old school rock and roll from this equine group of musicians tonight. Tyler Ramsey moved slowly around the stage belying the power and beauty that was coming off his guitar strings, on tracks like “Dumpster World” and the 70s styled “Electric Music” (from the new release Mirage Rock).
Ryan Monroe was stellar throughout the evening on keyboards and his lead vocals on “Older” were fabulous. When the band needed to take off to another level, Monroe strapped on his guitar and the power of a trio of guitars and the tight rhythm section, of Creighton Barrett on drums and Bill Reynolds on bass, propelled these Horses throughout the night.
You could feel the walls of the Enmore sigh and surrender during the encore when ‘NW Apt.’ rumbled over the joyous crowd.
Although not a band that is going to drive you out to the dance floor, the standing room only crowd tonight was in constant motion, vibrating to the 25 songs they were graced with. Guitar driven bands like this one are usually the stomping ground for young men and lovers of that sound, but the Horses bring out a diverse crowd.
Some may say it is their beards and funky good looks that attract a larger female fan base, but it is more than likely the assortment of songs with the harmonies and lyrical bent of their other styles that bring a welcome crowd mix.
No matter what type of fan was in attendance, there was little doubt that “Funeral”, which ended the set proper, was the most well received tune.
Now that Band Of Horses has a much more stable lineup, with input coming from all members of the band around the development of the songs, the road ahead looks very bright indeed.
With so many tunes up their sleeves it also seems, for this night at least, that there was no need to even entertain doing a cover, which is usually fairly normal for their sets.
The road and stability has allowed them to develop into a vibrant and thrilling rock and roll band that we can look forward to hearing much more from. Long may you run, you Horses you.
