Right off the bat, I know that you have three questions for me. 1) Was the show an explosion of amazement? 2) Were there a lot of drunk moms at the show? 3) Did you find out Sleigh Bells‘ spirit animals? The answer to all three of these question is a big HELL YES.
But let’s start at the beginning. The drive from Columbia was a wonderful 2 and a half hour drive. I always love to see the mountains and the sun was setting behind them when we reached them so it was just perfect. When we got to The Orange Peel there were already quite a few people there but me and Jake secured a decent spot and waited in anticipation. By the way, The Orange Peel is one of the best venues I have ever been to, and I have been to a large number of venues. The stage is big, the atmosphere is great, and they actually have air conditioning (a lot of venues don’t).
First up was Bosco Delrey. As soon as I saw he was wearing sunglasses inside I was already a bit skeptical. It was just one guy and his guitar, but he also ran some beats from his iPhone and sang over it. It started off really choppy, he finished his part of the song before the beat was over and stood there awkwardly, then his monitor supposedly turned off so he couldn’t hear himself. It probably took 10 minutes for them to fix this and he stood up there the whole time playing the same chord over and over not really saying anything. The rest of the set was nothing special, his beats were really cool, but he did not have an amazing voice.
Quick crowd update: I noticed one guy wearing a Linkin Park t shirt and his friend wearing a New Found Glory shirt. Was a little confused at why they were at this show. There also seemed to be a large amount of intoxicated older women, interesting crowd.
Next band were CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy which means “got tired of being sexy”, brilliant) from Sao Paulo, Brazil. They had 6 members and all 6 members were on top of their game. The amount of energy that this band poured into their music was astounding especially lead singer Lovefoxxx (probably not her real name, but I’m actually considering legally changing my name to that). She was all over the place, wearing ridiculous makeup and drinking red wine out of a fancy glass on stage. She reminded me a lot of Karen O from Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, especially her voice. At one point she said to the crowd “if you like ketchup, wave your arms like this (arm movement), but if you like mustard, wave your arms like this (different arm movement)”. It was awesome. The crowd were all over the place during this show, sometimes getting rather annoying but it was a great show anyways.
Now we get to the big guns. Sleigh Bells. Before I start with them, I would like to say, if you are a person who goes to a concert and throws beer all over the crowd, you are not a good person. I got beer thrown all over me last night and it was completely disgusting. If you have ever taken your cup of beer and thrown it at a crowd, don’t ever go to a concert, ever again.
When I asked Alexis Krauss, singer of Sleigh Bells, what her spirit animal is she told me it is a dolphin. The whole time that she was up on that stage she was fun, playful, and energetic much like a dolphin. Alexis is a born-to-be stage performer, jumping straight into the crowd at one point and dancing around the stage in her “SLAY BELLS” jersey for the rest of the show. She also has a brilliant voice too, which was especially showcased in Rill Rill where guitarist Derek Smith left the stage, leaving Alexis to sing her heart out alone.
Now when I asked Derek Edward Smith what his spirit animal is, he said elephant. At first thought I didn’t get it, but after talking it over I realized that he is 100% an elephant. On stage, Derek Smith is a powerhouse, just like an elephant. As I said in my show preview he was lead guitarist for screamo band Poison The Well so he’s definitely had a lot of practice killing it on the guitar. I would have to say that Derek’s guitar playing is pretty much the most important aspect of Sleigh Bells as it hits you hard and fast and gives you no choice but to dance.
Both of them tore up the stage, helped by an amazing light show (for an example, check out the video I took of Tell ‘Em). The set was pretty short, but I could not have asked for any more. Highlights of the set included Rill Rill and opener Crown On The Ground. They will be playing all over the US and Canada over the next few months and will appear at Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. If you get a chance, GO SEE THEM. They will blow your mind. While watching them, take into consideration their spirit animals, you’ll see the resemblance.
I would definitely like to thank Press Here Publicity for letting me cover the show at such short notice. It was an amazing show and I look forwarding to seeing them at Bonnaroo.
lovefoxxxx? is that the fox?