The Tallahassee community got a treat this past weekend with a visit by genre-blenders extraordinaire Judah & the Lion. On the group’s Going to Mars Tour, playing at The Moon nightclub seemed like a natural fit, and the packed, enthusiastic house obviously agreed.
Tall Heights
With two supporting groups, there was plenty to enjoy before the main event. First up was Tall Heights, a Boston-based electrofolk duo (with touring drummer) sporting big hair and even bigger voices. Any thought that attendance might be sparse for the openers was quickly forgotten, as the open dance floor was already packed with people before the music started.
After starting with the gorgeous “No Man Alive”, Tim Harrington (vocals, guitar) and Paul Wright (vocals, cello, synth) thanked the audience for showing up for the openers, to which the crowd roared its approval and someone yelled clearly, “I love you!” The crowd was unequivocally into it – there was no feeling like “when is the headliner coming out?”
Moving into “River Wider”, the crowd got a larger taste of Paul’s cello contributions, and then our first glimpse into the band’s humor, as they moved seamlessly and earnestly into “Feliz Navidad” – and sang it with gusto. (Remember, it’s March. ) Next were “Not Like It Was”, featuring an audience singalong, and then the upbeat highlight “Fire Escape”.
Before the serenely beautiful “Cross My Mind”, Tim said, “Okay, for this one, can you guys pull out your cellphones?” Thinking they knew what’s up, the crowd started waving their phones in the air. “No, no, no, ” he said, “we have a whole light show, that’s not what we need. What we want you to do is call someone next to you, answer the call, put both phones on speaker, then kind of sixty-nine them together so the speaker of one phone is by the receiver of the other. If it works, it should give us a beautiful cricket-like chorus.” He demonstrated this himself, and sure enough, it made a very odd yet peaceful noise. (Try it at home; it’s pretty cool.) The effect provided perfect ambiance for an evocatively mellow tune.
Tall Heights closed their six-song set with elegant and poetic “Spirit Cold”.
The only complaint one could reasonably make about this set is how short it was. I’d personally see this band headline a full-length show. Their tight vocal harmonies, acoustic roots, dance-demanding electronics and percussion, and positive energy were something that will stick with me for some time. Bravo.
Colony House
Next up was Colony House, a rock quartet from Tennessee. Brothers Caleb (guitar/vocals) and Will (drums) Chapman – reportedly the sons of a popular contemporary Christian pop musician – formed the group along with Scott Mills (guitar) and Parke Cottrell (bass).
The sound was more or less generic guitar-based rock, but it was fun how each member had their own aesthetic. Caleb evoked grunge, Scott simply was nerd-rock, Parke had a bit of a frat-boy persona, and Will rocked the ’80s party-animal vibe. True to life descriptions or not, it’s how they came across on stage.
The band was potent and a ton of fun to watch. The drums were heavy throughout – Will hit that snare like he was trying to beat the life out of it. A lighter touch might have been nice, but what he lacked in subtlety he made up in enthusiasm. While both Caleb and Parke played synthesizer at times, I was generally impressed with how many varied and interesting sounds they were getting out of just guitars. In this era of synth rock, it can be easy to forget how cool guitars can be.
I’ll admit that I wasn’t super into Colony House’s music when checking them out prior to the show. That said, they excelled a live group, and I was completely won over by the intensity and dedication demonstrated in their nine-song set. “Lonely” in particular stood out as a damn good song.
Toward the end of Colony House’s set, we decided we didn’t want to be squeezed in the open floor and constrained on movement for the rest of the night, so we moved to a spot further back in the tiered seating, providing a wider view and better access to the rest of the venue. If it was crowded when Tall Heights came on, now it was a veritable mob.
Judah & the Lion
Finally, it was time for Judah & the Lion. The core group was formed in Nashville and consists of bluegrass trio Judah Akers (lead vocals and guitar), Brian Macdonald (mandolin and vocals), and Nate Zuercher (banjo and vocals). As the group has grown in popularity and ambition, they’ve added touring members on bass synthesizer/synth, drums, and electric guitar/accordion – and the effect has been spectacular. Blending elements from bluegrass, rock, hip hop, and electronica, the group puts on a lively, fast-paced, visually stunning show.
The band entered in majestic OG style to a cover of T-Pain’s “Booty Wurk” in all its auto-tuned glory. Transitioning into a trio of songs from 2014’s Kids These Days – “Twenty-Somethings”, “Hold On”, and “Kickin’ da Leaves” – the group showed off its mastery of blending bluegrass and pop styles into catchy, high-energy, highly singable tunes.
Moving into newer tunes from 2017’s Folk Hop N’ Roll, the group showcased its more recent evolution with the rock-oriented “Conversations” (an early highlight of the set) and the Beastie Boys-reminiscent “Reputation”.
Next it was time to welcome back the openers. First Colony House returned to help cover “Mr. Brightside” along with, eventually, three young women pulled up from the crowd. The crowd members were surprisingly impressive – danced, sang, clearly knew every word, and were all over the stage. Crowd member roulette certainly paid off this evening.
With the departure of Colony House, Paul from Tall Heights joined the band on stage to provide some Irish-fiddle-style cello for “Back’s Against the Wall”, and was in turn joined by bandmate Tim to provide even more vocal harmony for the delicate “Our Love”.
Judah and company moved on to “Suit and Jacket” and “Green Eyes”, two crowd-pleasers that further demonstrated the band’s excellence in blending bluegrass and pop conventions with catchy, memorable hooks. Judah set the audience in competition here, dividing the crowd between “Team Beard” and “Team Overalls” (take a look at the pictures and figure it out), saying that whichever side sang along better would have their champion stage dive (with the caveat that mandolinist Brian recently had surgery, so Judah would be stage diving on his behalf should Team Overalls win). As is traditional, however, Team Beard won the day.
Judah stopped to talk a bit to the audience at this point, telling us about the band’s “game plan vision,” as he put it. He said they decided they were never going to be a cool band, they were just going to be themselves (to which I thought, well, “themselves” must overlap pretty heavily with coolness, because look at all this). He said we’re all going through something different; we all fight feelings of shame, self hate, and doubt, but we should all remember one thing: “you can do anything you want with your life.”
And then the band launched into “Going to Mars” the namesake of the current tour and one of the highest points of the evening. During the song, Judah emerged in the crowd, standing on the dry bar, rocking way out in Mars – or maybe The Moon – as it were.
Back on the stage, Judah said, “My baseball coach always said if you don’t finish strong it doesn’t really count; two more coming at you.” He helped the crowd decompress from the recent epicness with some jokes about us not appreciating as much as we should a little move he did with guitar, giving us a few chances to correct our reaction. Once he was satisfied, the band jumped into “Rich Kids”, another bluegrass-pop mashup about the ways in which one might be rich while not actually having any money.
Finally, it was time for a rousing performance of “Take It All Back”, a fantastic song that typifies the Folk Hop N Roll aesthetic the band has been pushing the last couple years. With a seriously catchy chorus, this is designed as a singalong, and the band really played it up, jamming on the progression for a long time, and – finally – giving Team Beard our promised stage dive.
And then the band departed the stage. The crowd wisely yelled “encore” instead of “one more song.” (I’m a believer that “encore” gives us a better chance for two or three more songs.)
As it turned out, they were more or less done playing their music. They came out for the encore, and Judah said it’s a Judah & the Lion tradition to sing “Happy Birthday” if it’s requested during the meet and greet, and it was, multiple times.
“Our birthday song is a little weird,” Judah said, “but it’s also a Judah & the Lion tradition to accept people’s weirdness.” There were lights and distortion and lots of synth and loud noise, but it really wasn’t that weird, to be honest. Maybe I’m just so in tune with the philosophy of accepting other people’s weirdness that said weirdness just doesn’t even register. Something to think about it, I guess.
Judah & the Lion closed by inviting Tall Heights and Colony House back out to to the stage, and Judah provided three really good rules to live by:
- Eat more chocolate.
- Be kind to people.
- Listen to more Tall Heights and Colony House.
All three bands closed singing a family-style bluegrass cover of “Lean on Me”, which was very thematically appropriate for all the positive vibrations in the house during the set. And then it was over.
All I can say is damn. That was an amazing show from start to finish, with every single person on stage giving it their full energy and devotion. Would I see Judah & the Lion again? I sure hope so.
Photo credits: Photos taken by author, Danny Brown.