We Were There: Local Natives at TTs

On Further Review
by Nick Parker

The Scene:
TT the Bears - 6/10/2009


This was my second time seeing The Local Natives this year, and this really is a story of two acts… The first show was a set on a frigid night in February. We fought our way through snow banks and freezing rain to experience these guys - and they ended up thawing us out with their sunny, Californian music. They played, not surprisingly given the weather, to a small but animated group of fans and converts. It was a good show, like a secret that only the few of us, who had put in the effort to get there, were allowed to share with them.

When it was over, we each felt like we had seen a band on the way up, playing complex multi-harmony melodies with several lead singers, switching off between instruments and at times having a member sing, play keys and a small second drum kit, all at the same time!


As I had hoped on that night though, things are on the up and up now for The Local Natives. This second time around, they were a quite different band. They still played much of the same set, from their single “Airplanes” to their excellent cover of Talking Heads’ “Warning Sign,” but this time there was a new buzz around them in the busy TTs audience. With a close to capacity crowd the band seemed to have a new level of command over their material – not just tighter in their performance, but more ready to take up the challenge of bigger shows, and, I feel convinced, more success to come. It is deserved, so I wish them the best of luck.

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