Show Review: Sleigh Bells

I’m pretty sure my ears are still ringing, but I’m totally cool with it. The remnants of pounding bass serve as a reminder of a great time. I spent last Saturday wisely; Sleigh Bells’ performance at The Observatory was ridiculously energizing and entertaining.

One of the best feelings is sensing the crowd’s anticipation before an artist goes on stage. The lights dim, the babbling crowd falls quiet. Alexis Krauss, front-woman of Sleigh Bells, harnessed that energy and suspense in the best possible way. The stage became covered in a thick veil of fog, backlights pierced through the dark room at an erratic pace, and soon enough, Alexis’ silhouette appeared at the center of the stage. As soon as the front lighting fixated on the singer, she began dancing, jumping, and running across the stage, delivering a high-energy performance the entire duration of the set.

The show was small-scale and intimate, but you’d never know it from solely looking at the artists. Alexis and Derek went all out, packing their set chock-full with crowd favorites, songs from their newly-released album Jessica Rabbit, and lots of crowd surfing.

Although Jessica Rabbit had only been released the previous day, the audience knew all the songs and belted out every lyric. The crowd ranged drastically from teenage girls to middle-aged dads, but everyone became lost in the moment, united by their love for raunchy noise pop." 

ELLEN LABBE, PHOTO DIRECTOR