SLEIGH BELLS @ RESPECTABLE STREET

i was standing three feet away from alexis krauss before she bounded up on the small respectable street stage and began flailing around as i'd seen her do in youtube videos. i reached out, tapped her, and said "thank you for playing florida". she nodded at me, looking mad determined. alexis wore a really cool, goth-ish spider webby knit jacket, atop a long black tunic, atop a fluorescent green bra, atop neon splatter-pained liquid leggings. and she went up there and killed it. she crowd surfed, she stomped, she let the audience sing. derek miller did a fair amount of flailing about too. with guitar. the largest audience i'd ever seen at respectable street seemed transfixed. the temperature in that room had to be pushing 115. it wasn't bearable. alexis made note of that "it's hot in florida". no love, it's hot when you sell out a small venue, it felt chilly outside compared.

their entire set hinted at dark electro and industrial shows i went to in the '90s. this audio atmosphere is somewhat difficult to describe, it's haunting, sexy, sinister and explosive. for me that vibe was there and i was stoked. it's something i don't really feel when i listen to their album, treats, so was a killer surprise. would have LOVED this show so much more if it wasn't the worst kind of hades in that place, if i had had space to MOVE to their sound and if someone's sweaty, bully-ish obnoxious relatives hadn't butt kris_1 and i out of the spot we staked claim on during opening act, po po's set.

as luck should have it, i'll see sleigh bells again this sunday at pitchfork music festival. in a great big outdoor setting. where i can move.

love,

sunlovey

p.s. Po Po or PO(zeb) & PO(shoaib) were pretty cool, two exotic dudes rocking out a guitar and drums, interchangeably. as in, yes, they traded places mid set and went on playing. check 'em out. also, i apologize for photos looking a little jacked. could have to do with my phone taking a swim on saturday and living to tell about it.

(crowd photo is from new times.)