(Milo Greene)
The last time I was at Bowery Ballroom was for an incredible Of Monsters and Men concert. It was such a treat and didn’t think anything could top the awesomeness; I was wrong. A few Thursdays ago, I was at Bowery once again to see Lucius and Milo Greene.
LUCIUS
Brooklyn based band, Lucius, can be no better described than an ensemble of infectious rhythms, insane percussions and vocals that will blow your mind. For an opening band, these guys killed it. Holly and Jess walked on stage matching in costume and hollered at the crowd with a “New York, we love you!”. The show started with “Don’t Just Sit There”; breezy vocals, beautifully synched harmonies and acoustic guitar got the crowd hypnotized. After that, they played their hit “Turn It Around,” which got everyone dancing, hands up in the air punching along with the perfectly placed drum beats. It was funky and energetic from beginning to end. Between songs Jess and Holly told the crowd how happy they were to be back in their hometown, cracking jokes and just being naturally adorable. Their set ended with “Genevieve,” which is just a powerhouse of craziness; the perfect way to end the show. The audience was left heavily breathing, with sweaty foreheads, thankful for what we had just experienced. Check out Lucius’ EP on iTunes and prepare for 13 minutes of just purely danceable, non regrettable music.
MILO GREENE
With a tough act to follow, I was more than ready for Milo Greene to walk on stage and blow my mind. So they did. I bet by now all of you have listened to one of their songs, most likely being “1957” which just exploded on the web ever since it was released. A certain someone from Twitter once described their sound as “with ethereal wisps of guitar, and drums and vocals, that are both calming and a call to action, Milo Greene both soothes and invigorates the soul”. Invigorate they did, my friend. They walked onto the stage greeting the enthralled crowd. I start fangirling just over the fact that Robbie Arnett is standing less than five feet from me, but that’s not important at all actually. They first played “Orpheus,” warming up the crowd with the warm feeling we feel when listening to Milo. The real first song they played was their very emotional “Don’t You Give Up On Me”. The crowd becomes comfortable with the band and slowly begins humming along with Marlana’s perfectly controlled vocals. The band continued their set with songs from their EP including “Autumn Tree”, “Silent Way”, “Take A Step” and others. And yes, they indeed perform a cover song. After “Silent Way”, Graham Fink asks the crowd if they could play “Zonk” by Wilco. The crowd responded with absolute pure happiness getting their video recorders ready. It was a great performance, and brought Milo Greene outside of their comfort zone making the band and audience vulnerable.
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If you think I’m done, I’m not. So the band walks off stage and we’re all ready to go back to our lonely little lives but Milo Greene and (YES, and) Lucius come back on. Andrew Heringer thanks Lucius and the music starts playing. We are all puzzled, looking at each other, trying to figure out what is coming next. Next thing we know, Milo Greene and Lucius are starting to sing Sufjan Stevens’ “Chicago”. I know, I know. Try to pull yourself up from the ground and keep reading. The vocals of Holly and Jess along with the acoustic goodness from Milo Greene created a performance I will never forget. Utterly beautiful, I realized this was what music is truly about. This night will never, ever, be forgotten. Give yourself a pat on the back Milo Greene, you done god damn good.
