So you enjoyed “loud as hell” jams when you saw them at that huge festival or that small club some time in the last year? You wanted to preserve that brief moment forever, you say? Well I’m glad you were at Saturday’s show so you could re-experience the “best concert of your life,” moment for moment. Launching another tour on the exact same material as the last TWO (with no new album in sight) is pretty bold, but as Sleigh Bells’ grandpas must have rightly said to them two years ago, “Do what you know.”
As their live show progresses, the main differences are all in the setting. Their venues get a little bigger each round. Their touring mates continue to mix up the sound they want to be associated with (In this case Neon Indian takes the place of Yeasayer or Major Lazer). The blinding light racks that now visually separate Derek Miller’s Marshall stacks are a little more seizure-inducing. But change is not why you love Sleigh Bells. You love three things: A Jackson guitar turned up to 11 million, Alexis Krauss cooing and/or screeching at you while fist pumping in tights and tanks, and a nonstop 35-minute set that encompasses ALL of their music.
Thatap what you want, and thatap precisely what you’ll get for the foreseeable future. If the formula is enjoyable, who cares? Itap fun to lose yourself in impossibly blown out beats for a bit, so lucky you!
went on beforehand and played a great co-headlining set. The band’s energetic stage presence balanced out their subdued synth pop nicely. They even planned an encore which helped push back the Sleigh Bells start to about 11 p.m.
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Marc Hobelman makes websites at The Denver Post, and is a regular contributor to Reverb.
