The Naked and famous concert review – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues – 03.10.14
Alisa Xayalith of The Naked and Famous (Photo: T. Patrick Fenner / CleveRock)The Cleveland House of Blues was tightly packed this Monday (03.10.14).Opening act Gemini Club had sparked the interest of most, and as the crowd awaited the quick to fame group, ironically titled The Naked and Famous, to claim the stage, one could feel electric excitement circling in the air. Alas, the New Zealand natives entered onto the stage and “A Stillness,” the chill opener to their most recent album ‘In Rolling Waves’ (09.17.13; Universal) opened the night. Sticking at first to the chronology of their new album, “Hearts Like Ours” was next on their list. However, “Girls Like You” followed, and as a whole, they managed to create a flawless balance between old songs and new. At first wearing a flowing black shawl, later to reveal a belted long black dress, beautiful vocalist and keyboardist Alisa Xayalith charmed her audience with a genuine sense of gratuity. Highlights were her constant dancing and hand gestures, such as rhythmic waves to match song “In Rolling Waves,” as she invigorated the crowd to sing along. In turn, vocalist and guitarist Thom Powers stole hearts with his golden grin, swooping hair and passionate guitar strumming. Taking turns with percussion instruments, their overall back and forth act worked together perfectly; it was easy to tell what they were doing meant a lot to them. Crowd favorite “No Way” would have ended the set, but undoubtedly, an encore ensued, adding on three more songs. A delightful surprise was the newer “The Mess” and, of course, their most famous,“Young Blood,” brought everything to a definitive close, and a definite consensus that this show was an amazing way to start the week!
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Check out CleveRock’s photos from the show!
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Video of The Naked and Famous performing at House of Blues Cleveland on 03.10.14. Video courtesy of YouTube user We’ve Been There Before
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