{"id":16772,"date":"2013-06-01T14:32:48","date_gmt":"2013-06-01T22:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=16772"},"modified":"2013-06-02T11:02:36","modified_gmt":"2013-06-02T19:02:36","slug":"review-stornoway-wows-at-las-bootleg-theater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2013-06\/review-stornoway-wows-at-las-bootleg-theater\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Stornoway Wows at LA’s Bootleg Theater"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stornoway<\/a><\/p>\n

We ventured down to LaLaLand<\/strong> last Saturday night for our third Brit-band in seven days, Oxford’s stentorian Stornoway<\/strong>.\u00a0 Turns out Stornoway<\/strong> might have been the pick of the Brit-litter.\u00a0 Competition wasn’t too tough though–merely The Rolling Stones<\/strong> and Arctic Monkeys<\/strong>.\u00a0 What’s that you ask:\u00a0 Stornoway<\/strong> held their own against two of this year’s Glastonbury<\/strong> headliners?\u00a0 In their own chamber-soul way, absolutely.\u00a0 The Stornoway<\/strong> quartet (augmented by rapturous violinist Rahul Satija<\/strong> and trumpeter\/percussionist Adam Briggs<\/strong>) endowed the intimate Bootleg Theater<\/strong> with their sophisticated pop melodies and complex arrangements, all delivered with good humor, charm and aplomb.\u00a0 That, folks, is (musical) entertainment.<\/p>\n

We had waited to catch Stornoway<\/strong> since their international break-out song Zorbing<\/strong><\/em> and their first album (Beachcomber\u2019s Windowsill<\/strong>) took over our musical jukebox in 2010.\u00a0 At long last last Saturday we caught the last night of Stornoway’s<\/strong> North American tour at the music-lovers dream-venue, The Bootleg Theater<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 Despite an ambitious and exhausting schedule, lead-singer\/guitarist Brian Briggs<\/strong>, multi-instrumentalist Jon Ouin<\/strong>, nimble bass player Oli Steadman<\/strong>, and adroit drummer Rob Steadman<\/strong> brought good energy and a full array of musical goods to the Bootleg<\/strong>, and all was right with the world.\u00a0 Mixing songs from Beachcomber’s Window<\/strong> and their epic new album, Tales from Terra Firma<\/strong>, the band repeatedly floored us with their astonishing ensemble playing and harmonious vocalese.<\/p>\n

Following an impressive set by openers Horse Thief<\/strong> (from Oklahoma), Stornoway<\/strong> was coaxed to the Bootleg stage by Satija’s lone violin<\/strong>, which opened into their fantastic farfisa-embellished single Knock Me on the Head<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 The band went on to then play a couple of standouts from Beachcomber’s Window<\/strong> (The Coldharbour Road<\/strong> <\/em>and Fuel Up<\/strong><\/em>) before landing back on Terra Firma <\/strong>with (A Belated) Invite to Eternity, You Take Me As I Am, November Song<\/em><\/strong> (sung beautifully by Brian Briggs<\/strong> solo and un-miked, as seen below), The Bigger Picture<\/em><\/strong>, and the pastoral, creation-affirming Farewell Appalachia. <\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>Brian Briggs’<\/strong> droll between-song patter helped to keep matters buoyant during the set (subjects included LA’s holiday-evoking weather vs. England’s; his first In-n-Out double-double pre-concert vs. the 250 tacos per-year consumed by the average Californian; and the inappropriateness of a sad song for Saturday night).<\/p>\n