The xx and Austra at The Tabernacle, February 2, 2013

So the big surprise of The xx concert last night was not only that there was an opening act (none were listed on the tickets, the Tabernacle web site, or any listing that I could find), but also who they were. I went expecting to see a show by a single band, and kind of assumed that The xx were the kind of band that could pull that off.

It was a cold and rainy night when I arrived at the sold-out show at The Tabernacle, and 15 minutes before the doors opened the line already stretched down Baker Street and around the corner down Spring Street.  By the time I got in (8:15 or so), the floor was already pretty crowded so I found a not-bad seat up in the first balcony to watch the show.  Observing the stage, I could tell that someone else was going to play first. A drum set was one clue (The xx use all electronic percussion) and The xx's equipment was still covered with tarps behind the mystery band's set up.  No one in the audience around me knew who was opening and most, like me, were anticipating a one-band performance.

At a few minutes after 9:00, the house lights dimmed and the band took the stage to great applause.  I didn't recognize them until the drummer took a seat behind her kit - it was the unmistakable Maya Postepski, one of the hippest looking ladies in rock music today.  We last saw Ms. Postepski last September during MFNW, when she transformed Portland's Holocene nightclub into an 80's new wave dance club with her band Trust, but I quickly realized that this wasn't Trust on stage but her other band, the terrific Austra.

If not for Ms. Postepski, I probably wouldn't have recognized Austra's singer and principal performer Katie Stelmanis until the music started.  Last time we saw Austra was during Rocktober 2011, when she was a part of a brilliant strings of sets at The Earl that included her, Zola Jesus, St. Vincent, and Grimes, a veritable tour de force of indie female rockers, she looked quite different, wearing a red velvet gown and her blonde hair framing her face with bangs.  Last night, she took the stage looking far more casual, wearing a black sweater tucked into jeans and her hair tied up in a long ponytail.  There would have been no mistaking her voice, though - Ms. Stelmanis is a powerhouse singer and a former operatic student, and can pierce the atmosphere with precise, enunciated tones and notes without seeming to even try, a perfect compliment to the driving, electronic music of her band.

Back at The Earl, the band included two terrific back-up singers, twin sisters Sari and Romy Lightman who also perform as the band Tasseomancy.  Last night, the sisters were not with the band, which performed as a keyboards-drums-bass-vox quartet.  I thought their contribution would be missed, especially on the stand-out song The Beat and The Pulse, but Ms. Stelmanis ably compensated, agilely switching from the backing Ooo-Ooo-Ooo's to the main vocals, and Ms. Postepski singing some backup vocals as well. 

I certainly wouldn't have recognized bass player Dorian Wolf, who performed at The Earl wearing a scary looking mask (it was the night before Halloween).

Austra at The Earl, including Tasseomancy and scary bassist (10/30/11)

Austra (Katie Stelmanis and Dorian Wolf) at The Tabernacle (2/2/13)

During their set, Austra played several songs that sounded new to me.  We're overdue to a follow-up to 2011's terrific Feel It Break., and this tour with The xx may be a part of the band breaking in some new material.

Fun facts:  I learned during her stage banter last night that Toronto's Austra is pronounced the Canadian way ("Oh-stra"), while I had been mispronouncing it the American way ("Aw-stra").  Also, for some reason, Katie Stelmanis wore a big, Flavor Flav-style heart necklace.

The xx opened their set that way they open their second album Coexist, with Angels and Romy Madley-Croft's hushed and vulnerable lyrics (". . .As in love with you as I am.").  It was an emotional and fitting start for their hour-long set of songs about tortured love, vulnerability, and alienation, played against their own instantly recognizable blend of sparse, minimalistic rock, R&B, and hip hop.

It's been almost three years since The xx last played Atlanta.  Back in November 2009, they played the tiny Drunken Unicorn in what must have been a memorable night (I wasn't there), and then returned to headline at Variety Playhouse on March 24, 2010 (I did make that one), with Nosaj Thing and jj opening, but until last night's performance at The Tabernacle, I don't know of them playing this town since.  During the intervening years, the band toured globally, won numerous awards, and recorded their second album, the aforementioned Coexist.  Last night, bassist Oliver Sims apologized for the long absence from Atlanta and promised to not stay away for so long again.  

To the few who may for whatever reason still be unfamiliar wit the band at this point, one of there many unique features is the trading vocal duties between Mr. Sims and Ms. Madley-Croft, usually during a single song.  The back-and-forth vocals between male and female singers creates the impression of a dialog, an intimate conversation between a couple, allowing opportunities to explore themes of intimacy, alienation, and vulnerability.

Multi-instrumentalist Jamie Smith, who also produces under the name Jamie XX, provides the beats, using electronics, pads, drums, and other percussion, and generally fills in all the sounds that aren't the vocals, Sims' bass, or Madley-Croft's guitar.  

The band played a mix of songs from Coexist and their previous, eponymous album.  Toward the middle of the set, The xx played a medley of several songs together, with Jamie providing electronic segues between tunes.

It wasn't until the end of the last song of their set that the band displayed their iconic X on the screen behind them to thunderous applause and the lights from scores of iPhones.  The band left the stage with their logo still displayed, and during their encore set, various color effects were added to the display, similar to the cover design on their new album.

It was a great set by The xx, polished and highly professional, combining both old and new songs and full of emotionally resonant passages.  That, combined with the pleasant surprise of Austra's opening set, made for a very special evening.