Last night I experienced one the best shows I’ve seen in awhile.  Yeasayer and Sleigh Bells sold out months ago and I’m pretty surprised they did not move it down the street to The Ogden to accommodate all the fans that were standing outside trying to score a ticket.

We got there early and situated ourselves up front for Derek and Alexis.  As Sleigh Bells, they brought their form of lo-fi, electronic hip-hop to the stage and rocked our worlds!  They remind me of Crystal Castles, but with less strobe light and more personality.  For a band that has not released any material, they sure had the crowd locked in.  Everyone dancing and cameras flashing.  Everyone wanting to get a good shot of the next big thing.  They ended the extremely high energy set with Crown on the Ground and left us wanting more.  I also have to admit, Alexis has passed up Alice Glass as my latest crush, so it was pretty cool to run into to her at the Atomic Cowboy after the show.

I wasn’t sure how Yeasayer would be live.  Especially having to follow Sleigh Bells.  But they brought it as well.  They are a much different band than I expected.  I’m not sure why, but their first album made me think these guys would be folksy hippie types.  I knew this wasn’t correct when I heard the new album, but I still wasn’t expecting the Depeche Mode meets Scissor Sisters band that took the stage with a background of rainbow lights.  At first I thought it might be a little too glam for my taste, but once I gave into the groove and starting dancing along with the crowd, I realized how great this material is live.   They worked through most of their material before ending with Ambling Alp…with the crowd singing along ‘Stick up for yourself, son!’

One of the best shows of this year so far!  See these bands if you get the chance!