It feels like a sin to put so many good indie pop acts in the same room that Copeland‘s current tour does. I don’t think that the Slowdown has ever heard so many happy and chill piano acts.
Opening the show is Canadian artist Lights, a.k.a. Valerie Poxleitner. Old Navy has this amazing talent of picking the best new artists’ music to use in their commercial and, in the case of Lights, they have used more than one of her songs in their commercials. Her synth pop music is like listening to a happy Björk. Lights may just be a very tiny girl with a keytar, but she carries a very powerful punch. She stood several feet away from the microphone as she belted out the chorus of “White,” a ridiculously catchy tune that had the whole audience dancing.
If you don’t have her EP, I strongly suggest checking it out. Of all the artists in attendance, her songs were what I had stuck in my head after the show. Oh, and did I mention the keytar? How can you not love somebody with keytar?
Another music site, Absolute Punk, has just been raving about the next band, Lydia, so I was quite curious to see if this barefooted group was really worth all the praise. Omaha almost didn’t get a chance to see them perform after the group had a run in with a deer in Pennsylvania that totaled their van. None of the members were injured, but this was their first show back since the accident. Now, with the first song I was worried that I was going to be bored and this set was overhyped, but soon I found my self nodding along and tapping my toe.
The male and female vocals with piano make me long for the days when Michelle DaRosa was still playing with Straylight Run. The stand out song for me was “This Is Twice Now.” After watching their entire set, I don’t know if Absolute Punk is quite right with all the buzz about this band, but they were quite pleasant and I would listen to them again.
Compared to Lydia and Lights, Lovedrug is a group comprised of musical veterans. I’ve seen them before and I really enjoyed their piano melodies. Tonight, however, the crowd and the band just did not connect. I think the band felt it, too, because Michael Shepard tried his best to get the crowd to be more energetic and responsive. He seemed mildly frustrated when his attempts to talk to the crowd didn’t get much of an answer. Nonetheless, they still sounded fine and I loved the killer bass line on songs like “Blood Like.”
Aaron Marsh of headlining act Copeland came out by himself to play the piano and sing the first half of “Strange and Unprepared.” This simple opening proved to be very powerful as the audience stood completely entranced in Marsh’s music. About 2/3 of the way into the song, the rest of the band came out and helped finish it up before jumping into the rest of the set. Copeland is another act I had been on the fence about. Pretty music doesn’t always translate into an exciting set, but they were actually really fun live with great instrumental build ups. Songs off the new album You Are My Sunshine were actually much improved live. Where grabbing the crowd’s attention had been a struggle for Lovedrug, Copeland hardly had to try.
Set List:
Strange and Unprepared
Happy Now
No One Really Wins
Paula Sparks
Careful Now
Eat Sleep Repeat
Chin Up
Control Freak
When You Thought
Gray Man
Not Allowed
Brightest
Pin Your Wings
Attention
Lights: myspace
Lydia: website | myspace
Lovedrug: website | myspace | Sucker Punch Show review
Copeland: website | myspace
Photos and Writing by: Bethany
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