Eastern Conference Champions can go from intimate bedroom pop to arena rock in one song and this not easy to do. I arrived in the middle of their set, and when I was approaching the stage, I realized that they were only four on stage – however I had seen them before and they were three! – but they were able to make some U2-level kind of noise,… may be, I mean, I have never been to a U2 concert!
Melissa Dougherty, on guitar, moved like a rock goddess, and frontman Josh Ostrander, on vocals, guitar and keyboard, had these slightly nasal vocals bright and loud enough to be heard over this big sound, which was often exploding despite some quiet beginning, before crashing into some lighter oo-oos
Their joyous energy was an important part of their performance, and their rowdy-moody pop-rock music was exploding all over the place on the sunset stage of the Jubilee at the end of this beautiful sunny afternoon.
It was a fierce set with windy reverb guitars, so loud at times, that the stage was vibrating and you would think a spaceship was about to lift off or something. Nevertheless their songs revealed some darkness and melancholy behind their upbeat crescendos, in particular, one of their songs had this quiet lament interrupted several times by uplifting outbursts. Above everything they seem to clearly enjoy themselves, and you can go a long way with that kind of attitude. 