Seattle – Before Brooklyn alt-pop trio, Little Daylight, rocked the Neumos stage, there was a line down the block outside. It was the typical, young Capitol Hill scene: college hipsters, tattooed boys in skinny jeans, and drunken groups of friends. But it was far from that stiff, music-snob feel some shows can have. The vibe was hyped and everyone was stoked to be there. For the most part, though, it seemed like the majority of the crowd was there to see the headliner, Clean Bandit. Little Daylight is continuing their “Hello Memory” tour with them for the rest of the west coast dates. But even though a lot of the crowd was there for Clean Bandit, without a doubt, most left Little Daylight fans.
The show started off with a DJ set while the crowd got their drink on. As Best New Bands noted earlier this year, Little Daylight “have been turning heads and heating up dance floors” with their official remixes for bands like Passion Pit, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Atlas Genius.
This tour is in support of their first full-length album, Hello Memory, released this past July. As soon as Little Daylight got on stage, almost everyone migrated down from the balcony to fill up the floor. Guitarist/keyboardist/drummer Matt Lewkowicz and bassist/keyboardist Eric Zeiler were casually dressed, while vocalist/keyboardist Nikki Taylor rocked a metallic mini skirt and a matching crop top.
Nikki started the set off strong with her powerful vocals and high energy. But Matt and Eric brought just as much spirit to the stage. And the crowd picked up on it immediately. As soon as the band started jumping around, so did everyone on the floor. Their music is just so catchy and well performed it felt almost impossible not to! Their cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” really got everyone moving. But when they closed out with their popular single, “Overdose,” everyone in the club was pumped.
Little Daylight really is a communal band. They dance with each other, play on each other’s instruments, and have genuine synchronicity. The quality of the performance was top-notch. There is no difference in musicianship between their recorded material and live performance. The reason why some bands sound so bad live is because a producer changes so much about their sound in the studio. Little Daylight, on the other hand, produces everything themselves. So what you hear is what you get: a killer show.
Best of all, they are having fun on stage. You can see that they truly love what they are doing. Earlier this year, Lewkowicz told Best New Bands: “Touring is like camp, but instead of sack races and bug juice it’s set-lists and coffee. What I mean is that you end up getting pretty tight with the other bands because you’re all far from home and you’re all scrounging for good food and sleep.”
To these ears, they were way too good to be an opener on a bill. But even though they will be for the rest of the west coast dates, they preformed like a headliner. If you are able to catch them on the last leg of the tour, it’s a must-see.
Jess Keller
Latest posts by Jess Keller (see all)
- Dads Connects With Seattle Audience - November 20, 2014
- PVRIS ’ ‘White Noise’ LP A Dynamic Debut - November 1, 2014
- Kate Lynne Logan: ‘It Can Be Pretty Magical Sometimes’ - October 22, 2014
Pingback: Little Daylight – An Electro-Pop Trio In Demand - Best New Bands