My first visit to the House of Blues in over four years proved to be one of the best concerts I’ve been to in quite some time. Both bands were mixed extremely well, and each individual instrument was audible, but not overpowering. The opening band, Wye Oak, had been billed as a folk band. I’d never heard them before that night, but suffice it to say I was impressed. The duo of a lead singer/guitarist and drummer/keyboard player were able to create a ton of noise, and their sound reminded me more of a shoegaze or dream pop band with a few folk rhythms scattered about. In fact, I liked their set enough to pick up their record shortly thereafter.

 

After a thoroughly entertaining and crowd-pleasing set, Wye Oak left the stage after 45 minutes to make way for the headliner, the Dirty Projectors. I have been a fan for a long time, and it’s always great to see a band you love rip through some great tunes and sound fantastic doing it. The band mostly stuck to songs from their recently released album Swing Lo, Magellan, but there were a few songs from their past few albums Bitte Orca and Rise Above sprinkled in as well. There were even a couple of songs I didn’t recognize, so I can only assume they were made more than five years ago. As I mentioned before, the band sounded amazingly tight on stage, especially considering their frequent use of three (and sometimes four) part harmonies and brisk, blazing guitar lines.

 

The Dirty Projectors rounded out the night with a three song encore, and then exited the stage with smiles on their faces. Overall, it was a delightful evening. Both bands had outstanding sets, and hey, the bathrooms at the House of Blues were nearly spotless. That’s a win in my book.