Story & Photos by Will Kanellos
Playing as an opener can be a tough gig. Chances are that most people at the show have never heard the opener’s music and are just there for the headliner. If they play a good set, the audience will nod their heads politely and maybe dance a little. There will be some people who are excited about that opening group, but most just want them to finish so the main attraction can start plays. This, however, was hardly the case at the Ra Ra Riot, GIVERS, and Pepper Rabbit show at WOW Hall last Tuesday. At this particular concert, it was the openers who truly stole the show.
Pepper Rabbit took the stage first and I was instantly taken aback by their music. Xander Singh and Luc Laurent use samplers and looping along with the help of a third musician to create a psychedelic avant-garde folk sound that is refreshingly unique.
“We dig on different stuff. Xander is more into theatrical music, stuff with horns, bands like Chicago. He is a huge Supertramp fan, really big David Bowie fan,” Laurent says. “I am a big fan of modern bands such as Wilco, Spoon, and Radiohead.” Pepper Rabbit does not like to only take influence from one type of music or band, Laurent says.
“We try to add different stuff we dig on from other records and if it works it works and if it doesn’t it doesn’t,” he adds. “We don’t really have any boundaries with our influences.”
Pepper Rabbit’s array of influence is apparent when they play. In any song, you can hear guitar, banjo, horns, trombones, and even accordion all of which are played by the duo.
Singh and Laurent met in Boston and began playing music together in 2006. The duo started recording, formed the band, and eventually released their first album, Beauregard. The pair relocated from New Orleans to Los Angeles, where they currently live. They began touring in the fall of 2009 and were recently on tour with Passion Pit to help promote the release of Beauregard. Only three months after their CD was released, Pepper Rabbit has already recorded their sophomore album, scheduled to release this summer.
“It’s totally finished we just have to get it mastered. We just spent almost a month mixing it,” Laurent says. “We have been working on it since May of last year, so we’re really excited that it’s finished.”
After this tour, the pair plans to take a break in February before going on tour again with The Rural Alberta Advantage. After that tour, Pepper Rabbit will play shows at the South by Southwest Music and Film Interactive and then go on a west coast tour with Miniature Tigers before releasing their second album.
After Pepper Rabbit completed their set, GIVERS gathered their instruments and took the stage. As soon as they stated playing, the energy in the venue exploded. Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Tif Lamson bounced around while putting tremendous amounts of energy into every drumbeat. GIVERS plays a vibrant live performance, fusing indie-pop with other world music into a sound that is pure fun.
“Everybody in the band has a totally different iTunes account,” says guitarist and vocalist Taylor Guarisco. Kirby Campbell, the band’s drummer, elaborates: “We grew up around a big international festival every year and were exposed to a lot of crazy world music. It all just came together with what we were interested in at the time with indie music, mixing in all these world things we love.”
GIVERS is from Lafayette, Louisiana, and was formed two years ago after some of the members had played together in other bands. They released an EP in September 2009 and are currently in the finishing stages of their first album, due out this spring. The group first began gaining recognition when they opened for Dirty Projectors in Baton Rouge, who, impressed by the group’s performance, asked the band to join their next tour.
GIVERS plans to complete the tour with Ra Ra Riot and will start to work on some new songs before heading to South by Southwest in March.
“We are playing a bunch of shows (at South by Southwest) and then releasing the album after,” Lamson says. “South by Southwest will be like the pre-game to the album release.”
After the concert, the bands hung around to chat with new fans, exchanged CDs with members of local band Adventure Galley, and talked more about their upcoming plans. With their unique sounds and amazing live performances, I’m certain both opening acts will be very successful. Look for Pepper Rabbit’s current album through Kanine Records. GIVERS’ EP is available here. Both bands will have new work available later this year.