Volcano Choir- Turner Hall, 11/30/14

Photo by CJ Foeckler Photography

For folks passionate about music that has gained national acclaim coming from the "Dairy State," Volcano Choir's show at Tuner Hall quickly became the hot ticket in town.  Volcano Choir started their "Repave" tour at the historic Pabst Theater in September, 2013, and chose to conclude their tour a little more than a year later at the Turner Hall Ballroom on November 30th.

For their part, Volcano Choir stayed true to form, performing an array of songs from their two releases, last year's critically acclaimed Repave, and 2008's Unmap. Volcano Choir played a rich set highlighting tracks from both records backed with a wide array of sonic effects and an intriguing light show which featured lights bouncing off of a textured canvass.  For his part, Justin Vernon, Volcano Choir's front man, stood behind a podium of sorts, performing more electronic arrangements.  Volcano Choir's sound is complex, layered, and often times even a little "out there."  They are very good at what they do, and for an experimental folk band that pushes the boundaries a bit, I commend Volcano Choir's effort.  Highlights included, the bombastic "Tideway," the first track from Repave, the groove laden "Acetate," and the show highlight, as far as I was concerned, the dramatic "Byegone." As a band, the material from Repave seemed to fit their live show a little better than some of the slower numbers from Unmap.  With that said, tunes like "Island IS" translated well live and had more energy than on the record. A good sign of things to come, a new track called, "The Agreement," would rival only "Byegone" as the most engaging number of the night, showing that the band is continue to forge along creating new and interesting sounds.

The special surprise opener for Volcano Choir was Slyan Esso, and I must admit that their high energy and animated set upstaged the headliner.  The duo jumped on stage (literally) with Nick Sanborn (a Milwaukee native who played most notionally in Decibully) donned in a Milwaukee Bucks basketball jersey and vocalist Amelia Meath in a black dance dress and tights.  The duo proceeded to mix beats and dance throughout the opener's 45 minute set.  Sylvan Esso had the jam-packed Turner Hall Ballroom bopping along to their electo-pop sounds.  Highlights included blistering tracks off of their 2014 debut record including, "Dreamy Bruises," "H.S.K.T.," and their hit, "Coffee," which features vocalist Amelia Meath's sultry swagger and original flow. The crowd exploded with as warm of a reaction as I've ever seen for a support act.  After all, Meath addressed the crowd saying that when they were just getting started Volcano Choir took them out on their first tour.  Sylvan Esso's top notch performance will rank in my top shows of the year list and made me feel like I was really getting two headlining performances for the price of one.

Photos by CJ Foeckler Photography