The Naked and Famous kicked off its world tour last Wednesday at San Diego’s House of Blues. It was a night full of excitement as well as frustration for the band since the heavy set of new material was interrupted twice by major technical difficulties.
The band entered the dimly lit stage, opening the set with “A Stillness” and transitioning into the new single “Hearts like Ours.” The show seemed to be progressing well until frontman Thom Powers attempted to play his solo part of the song and realized his guitar wasn’t working. The band continued as Powers frantically tried to figure out what was going on with the technicians.
Once the song finished, frontwoman Alisa Xayalith apologized for the technical problems and made friendly interactions with the crowd as Powers sorted out his situation. Returning to the microphone, Powers was ready to give it another try with “Girls Like You,” but encountered the same errors during his solo part. In good spirits, he gave up, threw his guitar behind him and poured his entire effort into singing. The crowd responded with cheers of approval.
Three songs into the set Xayalith said, “This the first night of our tour and we want to be sure that everything is 100 percent for you guys. We’ll be right back.” Fans waited around for ten minutes, unsure of what to expect for the remainder of the evening.
Returning to the stage, the band played a consecutive series of four new songs, which failed to excite the audience. Given that the new material isn’t as immediate as the debut album, the audience seemed to be more engaged in individual conversations instead of the show. After enduring technical issues once more, the band took another timeout to resolve the errors. Fans began to boo, more so at the situation rather than the group.
When The Naked and Famous returned to the stage for the third time, Powers and Xayalith both apologized for the whimsical evening and finished the show with fan favorites like “All of This,” “Punching in a Dream” and “Young Blood.” Since there was a curfew, the band had to shorten the set by one tune because of the unexpected interruptions.
Aside from the technological conflicts, The Naked and Famous performed a great concert overall. They kept good attitudes and had fun despite the issues. And since it was the first show of the tour, hopefully they will be able to work out all of the kinks for future events.
Information about The Naked and Famous can be found at thenakedandfamous.com.
ALSO READ: Olafrur Arnalds’ concerts are all about the music
Photo by Kevin Serrano, staff photographer
