March 16 – Walking into Asheville, N.C.’s Orange Peel the atmosphere resembled that of a Southern family reunion rather than that of a concert as Band of Horses’ family and friends joined them for the last show on their North American tour.
After the tour the South Carolina natives will begin recording the follow-up to 2006’s Everything All the Time in Asheville, N.C.’s Echo Mountain Studio, with their old friend Phil Ek (The Shins, Mudhoney and Built to Spill) manning the soundboard, before embarking on a European tour in May.
Lead singer and Rip Van Winkle look-alike Ben Bridwell, who moments later had been hanging out amongst friends and family, took to the stage with the rest of the Southern-fried indie-rock band. The band immediately kicked their set off with the anthemic single “The Great Salt Lake” and then barreled into the raucous “Weed Party.”
As with any good mixed tape (or concert in this instance) it is always good to kick it off with a fast-paced hit and then to kick it up a notch on the second track.
After that you bring it down a bit with a somber, slower third track – only Band of Horses kind of bumbled the last part of this equation by playing a new song that is sure to find its way onto their aforementioned follow up to Everything All the Time.
This was a flaw that continued throughout the show as Band of Horses played only eight of the 10 songs from their debut album (everything except “I Go to the Barn Cause I Like The” and “St. Augustine”), four new songs and three covers.
When touring with only one record out, newer bands often have to extend their sets with covers and new songs that don’t sound quite finished yet – because they usually aren’t.
This often sucks the life out of a crowd especially when indie kids hear a David Allen Coe and Ronny Wood cover – which made it seem like the band was playing the songs more for themselves than to appease the crowd.
While the set list was spotty, Band of Horses shined brightest when playing the material they knew. “You guys ever heard this one?” Bradwell said just before his reverb-drenched Robert Plant-like vocals soared over the misty melody of the band’s biggest hit “The Funeral.”
While Band of Horses is already well worth the price of admission, the addition of their sophomore effort will definitely help beef up their set and help them to avoid the dead spots that took the energy out of the room.

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