Show Review - The Head and The Heart - Seattle, WA 2/21/14

They say there's nothing quite like playing to a home town crowd. Seattle's own Homecoming Heroes, The Head and The Heart proved that last night, playing to a sold out audience at the historic Paramount Theater. The indie folk-rock band had no trouble keeping the crowd enthralled in every moment of every song on their set list. Mixing together just the right amount of old and new material, The Head and The Heart captivated every head and every heart in the room that night, mine included.

I became an instant fan of The Head and The Heart the moment I listened to the self-titled first record. Their second release, out Oct. 2013, Let's Be Still (read my review here,) kept me a fan. When I saw they were playing in Seattle on their current tour, I jumped at the chance to see them. And frankly, after the week I had leading up the night of the show, I needed this happy in my life.

The band opened with the lead off single from their new record, Shake, winding up an already electrified crowd. They played on, the hometown crowd soaking in every word, every harmony, every note, every drum beat. You could feel that the band was glad to be home. With their jovial banter, and song break chatting you could just tell they were having an amazing night. They were feeding off the love from the audience and weaving that into their performance; there's no disputing that Seattle fans are the best.

As our hearts swelled from the music, the critic in me was also very impressed by the pure musicianship from the members of the band. Everyone was in top form. The drummer, Tyler Williams, brought the room to a near stand still with his intensity on Rivers and Roads (which was really one of the greatest songs that night)

It's magical when a room full of near strangers, gathered together for the sake of music, all join in singing the same song. These are the experiences I live for, this is one of my favorite things about going to live shows. I think the best example of this all night was during Rivers and Roads. All around me I could hear voices singing along, voices throwing out all their cares in the world and focusing on that moment, coming together for the music.

The Set list:

Shake

Homecoming Heroes

Coeur d'Alene

Ghosts

Honey Come Home

Another Story

Cruel

Let's Be Still

Lost in my Mind

Winter Song

                                                                                                        Heaven Go Easy On Me

                                                                                                        10,000 Weight in Gold

                                                                                                        Sounds Like Hallelujah

                                                                                                        Gone

                                                                                                        Rivers and Roads

                                                                                                        (Unknown new song - Josiah acoustic)

Summertime

Down in the Valley