A concert that happened over a week ago…
…was The Helio Sequence at WOW Hall in support of their new album Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Sub Pop, 2008), with Eugene locals Yeltsin giving a solid performance as the first opener. By far the best thing about Yeltsin is their lead singer’s beard, which has to be a good foot long and swayed majestically during their entire set. The next supporting act was the disappointingly unbearded Audrye Sessions. Their lead singer did sport a fledgling mustache, which is a pretty decent metaphor for how their music stood up against Yeltsin’s. Thankfully the main event came onstage soon after and rocked off everyone’s socks pretty thoroughly. The onstage lineup of Brandon Summers, Benjamin Weikel, and a laptop is one of the tightest combinations I’ve ever heard live. Weikel is maybe the happiest person to ever get his hands on a drum set, and Summers sounded like a three piece band on guitar for the entirety of the set, which lasted almost an hour. They played songs from every album, especially Love and Distance and the new one. That the band sounds great live isn’t surprising, considering that they’ve been together for over ten years. What is surprising is that this was only their third Eugene concert in twelve years, so I’d definitely recommend catching them when they come around again in 2012.
