The Antlers at The Bowery Ballroom 5/20

Friday night The Antlers played the second of their two show stand in New York City. The Brooklyn band just released their album Burst Apart on May 10th and the crowd was treated with many of those new songs. In fact, the band played every song but the instrumental "Tiptoe" during their hour and a half set. Canadian Band, Little Scream opened the show with a very good set. I really dug their sound and energy. And then there was their flautist (or is it flutist?); stunningly beautiful, sultry voice and rocks the woodwind like a professional. What's not to love?

In between sets, we chatted shit about Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, the Creator as we tried our best to offend our friend Megan. But as soon as the lights went out, the crowd was gripped by quiet anticipation. When the opening chords of "I Don't Want Love" kicked in, the tension was released and the crowd started swaying right along with the beat.


I intitially had doubts about how The Antlers would sound live but the band perfectly recreates the atmospheric sound on their record as front man Peter Silberman's guitar pours out feedback and Darby Cicci layers the music with heavy effects. The band have also added a second guitarist, Timmy Mislock, which further adds to the density of their live performance. The only negative aspect of the show was the performance of Hospice standout "Two". The live arrangement of this song is significantly sped up and sounds like radio-friendly pop-rock and it significantly takes away the emotional weight of the song. Even with this slight misstep, The Antlers put on a great show that's worthy of your time. Check out The Antlers when they come to your city. Check out the setlist, more photos and their upcoming tour dates.

Set List:

I Don't Want Love
Parentheses
No Widows
French Exit
Rolled Together
Bear
Every Night My Teeth are Falling Out
Hounds
Putting the Dog To Sleep
Encore Break
Kettering
Corsicana
Two
Wake

Photos (by Andrew Beam)


Tour Dates:

05-28 George, WA - Sasquatch Festival
05-31 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
06-03 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey *
06-04 Pomona, CA - Glass House *
06-07 Austin, TX - Emo's *
06-08 Dallas, TX - The Loft *
06-09 Tulsa, OK - The Marquee *
06-10 St. Louis, MO - Firebird *
06-11 Chicago, IL - Metro *
06-12 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick *
06-14 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club *
06-15 Montreal, Quebec - La Tulipe ^
06-16 Boston, MA - Paradise *
06-17 Hamden, CT - The Space *

* with Little Scream
^ with the Dodos