Had a great time at the Holocene on Sunday catching Kelly Lee Owens! Well worth the $19.38 and the night.
Survival Skills
Interesting sounding opener. Just a single guy with a laptop, drum machine, a microphone (couldn't make out any vocals) and a visual from behind him. The tunes bore a timbre similar to Boards of Canada/Simian Mobile Disco but not quite as spacey or extraterrestrial. Set duration was just under half an hour.
Kelly Lee Owens
She began the set with her "Weird Fishes" cover playing overhead, before even appearing out of the curtain near a pair of steps to the cramped, small stage. She was wearing a black hoodie/jumpsuit serving as her camouflage to stage entry. A simple black and white visual of spheres moving in sinusoidal fashion increased in luminous intensity until a faint dim plateau was reached.
The setlist became progressively more intense: the dreamier/ambient techno tracks adorned the first half ("Keep Walking," "Lucid," "L.I.N.E.," etc.) with calm, oceanlike graphics in the back. The transition to the wonderful "Bird" midway through the setlist marked a change to the harder, pounding, beat-driven cuts ("Jeanette," "Melt!," "Evolution," etc.) and finishing with the raver "Kingsize."
After finishing the aforementioned "Kingsize" on an energized high note, she left the stage in anticipation for an encore from the sold out audience. She did return...but not for an encore. Instead, she thanked us all for coming and that while she "couldn't follow that one up," she would love to be back soon.
Post-show
Minutes after the lights returned to normal luminescence, I exchanged phone numbers with one of the concert goers I shared pleasantries with while waiting for doors to open. After we bumped elbows and fared each other well for the night, I caught the attention of one of (I think) Kelly's equipment people. I made a request for the
S/T and
Inner Song jackets I brought to the show to get signed, accompanied with the usual Sharpie I tuck away in the small zippered pocket of my shoulder strap bag. He obliged, took my offered belongings and scurried to the curtains from behind where Kelly left the stage. Not even fifteen seconds later, he returned to ask for the spelling of my name per Kelly's request; I provided that and he again jogged back to behind the curtains. I received the jackets back quickly with each bearing similar personalization, but without a pen. Viewing them side by side, the signatures appear to lead from one into the other, a nice touch! I thanked the equipment team member, and he relayed a message to me from Kelly to say thank you for coming tonight and "lots of love!".
Waited and walked around the venue for about five minutes to see if she would appear from behind the curtains or if I might stumble across some friends that also happened to attend this show. After neither of these happened and it became apparent that she would not be talking with concertgoers, I made a beeline for the exit. Was rather surprised to see that there was no merch table during or after the event.
Another concert success.
