Low @ Neumo’s
The show was advertised as “Doors at 8:00,” but the first band wasn’t scheduled to go on until 10:00. Poor planning, or just a scheme to get bored hipsters to spend more money at the bar before the bands start? I kid, of course.
Lavender Diamond, Low’s supporting act, took the stage shortly after 10. Fronted by an awkward young woman with a high, clear, and sometimes powerful singing voice, they ran through a set of songs on sparse, simple piano/guitar arrangements, backed by a drummer with only a snare and a floor tom. Oh, and a tambourine. (Needless to say, this was not a night for drummers looking to watch their peers shine). Maybe a little too repetitive at times, but enjoyable folk. The real fun was had whenever the frontwoman (didn’t catch her name) attempted to talk to the crowd between songs, usually prompting a wave of giggles and bewilderment. She was sort of the giddy hippie type, telling us that Seattle reminded her of England. Oh, but she’d never been to England. And hey, they’d seen the most beautiful rainbow on the way up from Portland! And there was a bug in front of her at that show, and it flew so close to her face that she thought she was going to have to look inside her eyes! And they’d traveled through time and space to get to this show, by virtue of their feet! I don’t even remember what it was she said that prompted Serene to wonder out loud “Is she high???,” during a sudden and unfortunate lull in the crowd noise.
Low took the stage with a storm of distortion and pulsing bass that nobody would have expected before The Great Destroyer, but their set eschewed that heavy-handedness in favor of a wide range of dynamic levels. Everything from the paper-delicate material they’re known for, laden with harmony vocals and fragments of chords passing for accompaniment, all the way up to explosive, shake-your-pants-leg-loud songs. We were even treated to a couple of fragmentary songs, that built up a head of steam before tapering off with apologies along the lines of “We don’t really know how to end that one yet…”
I’m glad they kept their old material relatively faithful to their original, quiet incarnations, rather than amping everything up to fit with the new songs (although we got to hear part of “Sunflower” played shoegazer-style, due to an accidental fuzz pedal activation). They were just as mesmerizing and transcendent as I’d always imagined them to be, whether they were demolishing speakers with cascades of fuzz, or sighing along to tappity-tap drums and fingerpicking.
