With a little over a year since last visit to Denver, Eric Elbogen and his touring band came out of the gate fast at the on Saturday. They had such high energy that nearly every song sounded as if the tempo had been taken up a notch.
Sure, for the faster songs this worked, but the usually mid-tempo songs sounded a bit rushed. Elbogen did stay true to his word and played Say Hi’s entire new record, “Uh, Um Oh.” The crowd relished the opportunity to soak up the new material, as they danced and sang along without missing a beat.
Much of Say Hi’s charm lies in Elbogen’s wit and “what you see is what you get” attitude. Elbogen seamed a bit more focused on playing music rather than chatting up the crowd during the early portion of the set. Much like a shy toddler, he opened up as the night wore on. He even squeezed in a question and answer session, a tour tradition of labelmate David Bazan. Unfortunately, the crowd did not bring their A game when it came to asking questions as someone asked Elbogen if he liked lasagna and another asked the always awkward, “were you ever touched as a child?” question.
I tip my hat though to Say Hi, they took everything in stride, including replying to frequent song requests with, “We are not a wedding band, so we do not take requests.” Still, the crowd was rewarded as the nightap set included one of Say Hi’s biggest hits, “Northwestern Girls” and the infectiously catchy tune, “Sweet Sweet Heartkiller.” With the Hi-Dive’s stage in the front and dressing rooms in the back, a few audience members seemed confused that the encore was part of the set and that when Elbogen said goodnight, he meant it.
One of the opening acts, Blair, played a tremendous set. Her songs had an indie-pop appeal and her vocals truly captured the audience with their distinctly chirpy tones.
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Greg Stieber is a Denver freelance writer and regular contributor to Reverb.
Ryan Dearth is a Denver-based photographer and a new contributor to Reverb.
