Lydia @ The Mercury Lounge, NYC
March 8th, 2009 - by eva
March 5, 2009
Revving myself up to see this pop-rock sextet, I streamed Lydia’s latest album, Illuminate, from the band’s website all week and, I’ll admit, the tunes have grown on me in that pleasantly infectious-but-not- nauseatingly-poppy kind of way.
Thanks to some train troubles, I missed opening act Black Gold, but Lydia leapt into their set promptly on time (early?) to a comfortably full and attentive crowd of head-bouncing, bootleg-video-shooting, singing fans.
Knowing next to nothing about this band, I soaked up the show at face value and found no pretenses, no dramatization in their performance. These guys were having fun without relying on cheap ploys and props for added silliness; lead vocalist and Leighton Antelman chatted with the crowd without that forced stage banter many bands awkwardly recite; and each member behaved with a focus that never seemed contrived. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Leighton and the rest of the band were a bit under the weather (requisite of any band’s first headlining tour, after all). I wouldn’t have noticed had Leighton not apologized three or four songs into what he said would be a short set. (It came to a satisfying half hour.)
The performance was cozy and fitting in the small, brick-lined walls of the Mercury Lounge. The stage looked to be at max capacity with the six musicians (and, might I add, all twelve of their impeccably chiseled cheekbones) and their respective instruments. Perhaps embracing the intimacy, Leighton beckoned the beer-sipping crowd of twentysomethings to move closer.
The band alternated between selections from Lydia’s debut This December, It’s One More and I’m Free and Illuminate. Leighton sipped a paper cup of tea between songs, and his soft, scratchy vocals balanced beautifully with keyboardist Mindy White’s haunting, milky smooth verses in songs like “Now the One You Once Loved is Leaving”; one voice never overpowered the other.
Mindy helmed the keyboard for the bulk of the show (trading spots with Leighton toward the end), and the melodies danced lightly around rhythmic guitars and subdued drums characteristic of such catchy, yet melancholy, indie-pop stylings. (During various songs, I was reminded momentarily of Taking Back Sunday, Coheed and Cambria, and Brand New, among others. I mean that nicely).
Live versions stayed relatively true to their recordings; generally I prefer bands throwing in jams, solos, and variations on studio tracks I’ve listened to countless times, but my unfamiliarity with the band kept me captivated—a separate challenge in itself, as it’s pretty tough to get wrapped up in the live performance of a band for which you have no predisposed affinity. This is as much a credit to Lydia’s crisp performance as to the music’s enchanting harmonies and a distinguishable sound.
As the final tune wrapped up, one by one each member set down his/her respective instrument and solemnly stepped off stage, one by one, walking through the standing audience whose attention was fixed to the stage until only Leighton and drummer Craig Taylor remained; they played a few last notes, and then smiled and thanked the audience. All in all, a solid show. Check them out.
