So, first let me get one complaint out of the way:

The Republic ain’t a great venue for live music. It’s designed to be a club, with a front stage for a deejay, and a floor suited for people to mingle and get jiggy. There is a bar on either side of the dance floor for the sole purpose of keeping the crowd liquored up. That being said, there are several spots in and around the side bar area in which the stage can’t be seen. It is also very difficult to see through the wooden posts that hold up the second floor lounge area. You get stuck behind one of these posts on the ground floor in a tight show, you’re pretty f*cked. Unless you climb them like I have seen drunkies do (and plummet back down to some concert goer’s dismay).The venue has also been known to have sound issues. I noticed this when I saw SBTRKT in June; the speakers kept blowing out during the performance and there was continuous feedback that made me distort my face something awful. A fellow KLSU staff member reported similar when she went to see FKA Twigs. Apparently the speaker blew during a major drop and Twigs was so upset she stormed off stage.

With this in mind, my boyfriend Will and I approached the stage during the opener, Lower Dens. They are an indie band out of Maryland with a sound that vaguely reminded me of the Smith’s. Mind you, that’s a pretty far off comparison too. I don’t know, just think progressive strumming guitar, monotone singing and a repetitious bass line, there ya go. I don’t mean to hate, they were just a tad vanilla for my tastes. I would have gone outside to smoke a cigarette during their entire set if it hadn’t been for their interpretive dancer. This chicky had a red outfit and a shawl that she flowed about with. Will joked that she was someone’s cousin from art school that the band was forced to bring along. And she very well may have been, she reminded me of the free spirits I have seen lost at music festivals, tripping balls and moving erratically to the beat in their heads. She took the mic every once in awhile between songs to chant African folk songs. I guess this was effective enough to keep me entertained for the performance. However, during their set, I was stuck behind one of those damn posts… And I wasn’t about to be cockblocked by this poorly placed piece of architecture for UMO.

Patience is indeed a virtue my friends. As soon as Lower Dens ended, everyone broke for the watering holes and we shimmied our way into the center mass. One of my massively drunk old friends found me and introduced me to his friends six times. I watched a boyfriend grope his girl girlfriend and she slapped his hands away. These concert things charm me so.

UMO is a American/ New Zealand psychedelic/lo-fi/garage rock band with roots in Portland and Auckland. Their labels are Jagjaguwar, based in Charlottesville Virginia, with signed artists such as Bon Iver, Dinosaur Jr. and Sharon Van Etten and also the label Fat Possum out of Oxford Mississippi, commonly associated with The Black Key’s rise to success. Pitchfork gave them a good rating on their debut album, and thus was their beginning on the indie rock scene. The band is Ruban Nielson, lead guitar and singer, bassist Jake Portrait and drummer Riley Geare.

They opened with a groovy rendition of Like Acid Rain. In fact they put a groovy spin on most of their songs, maybe because they thought the New Orleans crowd would dig it. I did. The lighting was fitting for a rock show, but I would have liked to see some weird screen visuals, as they are technically a psychedelic group. All of the members in the band were very lively, brownie  

points to Riley the drummer for shaking his beard sweat everywhere. Ruban got excited and started climbing the balcony from the stage. However he seemed to regret this decision halfway and inched his way back down, showing off his fabulous boots. There were many solos to be had as well, the drum solo being the best. They played from their debut self titled album with the songs Ffunny Ffriends, and How Can U Luv Me, a few singles from II, which was the album that turned me on to them with So Good at Being in Trouble (my favorite!), Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark), and From the Sun. And of course, there were some tunes from Multi-Love, which was their initial closer. And the encore, Can’t Keep Checking my Phone, had the groove pumped up to eleven and was an immensely satisfying close.

Luckily, there weren’t any sound issues. Maybe the Republic will earn my trust back. Still a weird set up doh.

Overall, I would rate this concert a solid 8 out of 10, considering the venue, the opener, the performance and the encore. Now begins my post concert kick of their music.

  

Until the next show, DJWRONGSID3