Show Review: HOMESHAKE

HOMESHAKE’s Midnight Snack has been my go-to comfort album since it came out in 2015 and it’s not hard to see why. The album is soft, groovy; it’s almost trance inducing. HOMESHAKE’s new album, Fresh Air follows in Midnight Snack's footsteps, making you want to fall asleep in the best way possible. I walked into the Echoplex fully ready to be swept away by the sweet, sweet voice of Peter Sagar.

The first opener was the one-woman show, Mozart’s Sister. She played a high pitched indie pop set while grooving all over the stage, occasionally calling for the members of HOMESHAKE to bring her shots of whiskey. Her set was going well up until the point that she decided, for a reason that remains unknown, to yell “Fuck Kendrick Lamar” to an L.A. crowd. She was obviously met with a great amount of booing for her blasphemous statement against our lord and savior, King Kendrick.

There’s no way I can talk about this concert without mentioning the second opener Andy Boay, who was strange to say the least. Watching Andy perform was an experience like no other; I was fascinated, charmed, and slightly uncomfortable throughout the duration of his set. Already shirtless, he walked on stage and began to play a seemingly never ending song that was mostly him screaming into the microphone in an array of voices. As off putting as that may sound, you could feel all the pain he’s ever experienced and it made me hate whoever hurt him. He’s a man who’s filled to the brim with emotion and even asked us to give his guitar, whom he loves dearly, its own round of applause.

As “It Aint Safe” by Skepta played in the background, a lovely juxtaposition to the music that we were about to hear, HOMESHAKE finally took the stage. Peter Sagar lackadaisically strolled up to his keyboard and began the set with one of his faster paced songs, “Michael.” Sagar’s music had a profound effect on an intoxicated crowd of teenagers. There was no pushing, no shoving and hardly any jumping; to put it shortly there was absolutely no moshing within the Echoplex, which is a rather prime moshing venue. Although one wouldn’t expect the crowd to be too obnoxious at a HOMESHAKE concert because their music is so mellow, people always find a way. Strangely enough those people were absent and the souls of HOMESHAKE’s audience were switched with those of a bunch of 50 something year olds at wine and paint night. It was almost as if his sleepy, indie/R&B songs cast a “calm the fuck down” spell over the crowd and I loved every minute of it. Everyone adopted Sagar's dreamy, slow, demeanor and swayed to the smooth sounds of HOMESHAKE.

SAMARA HARRIS, DJ
PHOTO BY RICK BHATIA