Full disclosure – Yeasayer is a band I’ve always liked, but never been very familiar with, so I wanted to take this opportunity to see them live. I listened to their new album, Fragrant World, a couple of weeks ago, and liked it. It wasn’t as light-hearted as I’d expected, but that was ok. I was excited to see how the album would translate on stage.

In addition to it being my first time to see Yeasayer, it was also my first show at Republic. Republic is a pretty typical venue. The downstairs was packed when I arrived (late….thanks New Orleans parking….) so I retreated to the upstairs balcony where the air was a little cooler and there was more room to move.

Shortly after I settled into a spot just one person back from the railing, the band was ready to begin. I’d heard tell of a spectacular light show and was not disappointed. Their setup consisted of columns of what looked like huge silver bowls stacked on top of one another. These “bowls” served to reflect the many colorful stage lights that danced up ad down and in circles around the band members. The lights almost seemed to cage in the band, but they didn’t seem to mind. Maybe it was because their instruments (aka sound boards) required a lot of attention, but the band didn’t seem to interact with the audience much outside of between-song-talk-breaks. This isn’t a bad thing, and it certainly didn’t detract from the show. They were in their own world. Their concentration wasn’t stiff; it was soulful. Like I mentioned earlier, the album they’re touring for is a bit darker so I expected the show to be more on the low-key side, but I was wrong. The energy they put into each song translated to the audience fantastically. Another thing that I was impressed with was how full and clear their sound was in the venue. It was almost like I was wearing headphones…and they were singing just to me…and I’m getting carried away, ha! But in all serious, the sound was loud and crystal clear – something you rarely hear at shows.

When: Friday, September 7
Where: Republic New Orleans
A little background: Yeasayer is a four piece electronic psychedelic pop band from Brooklyn, NY formed in 2006.

Unfortunately, I’m not familiar with many of the names of the band played, but I do know that there was not a still body in the place when they played “Ambling Alp” as their last song. My newly made Pennsylvanian friend and I belted the lyrics and danced in place until the final note. Then, there was a four-song encore that ended all too soon. I would highly recommend seeing Yeasayer to anyone who likes electro psych pop and doesn’t mind getting sweaty in a crowd. Their performance at Republic only made me want to see them again and reminded me why I live music so much. It’s nice to know there are musicians who care as much about their shows and their audiences as they do about their music, and Yeasayer was a great example of that.