Alt-J and Lord Huron at The Tabernacle, September 23, 2013

In my first Monday-night concert since Sallie Ford and Thao back on March 18, I went to The Tabernacle and saw Alt-J for the fist time since March 6.  L.A.'s great Lord Huron opened.

Lord Huron plays buoyant indie-rock with equal touches of country-folk and ambiance. They've passed through Atlanta before, but I was never able to catch them, so I was glad to see them paired with Alt-J, not just for my own listening pleasure, but also so that they could get exposed to a wider audience.  

Lord Huron is as much a visual project as a musical one.  They performed before a lovely backdrop of western mountains and dressed in western clothes, including frontman Ben Schneider's trademark fedora, which came flying off at times as he furiously beat a floor tom or wailed on his guitar.  It was a terrific set, and one that ended far too quickly - I could have listened to them for another hour and not been bored.  

But the audience was there to see England's Alt-J.  We last saw Alt-J, as mentioned above, back in March, but their star has continued to rise since then and they've grown from playing the mid-size Masquerade to filling the Key Arena at Bumbershoot and selling out the Tabernacle.  As you may recall, I passed on seeing them at Bumbershoot due to the ridiculously long lines to get into Key Arena and the cost of all the other sets I would have had to miss just to see them.  But there were a great many people who obviously thought it would have been worth it, as they had packed the arena.  I might have considered it worth it just as I had for M83 the year before, but passed knowing that I had Alt-J tickets for later in the month.

It was a sold-out show last night at The Tabernacle, as well.  After opening with their usual intro, Intro, they launched into Fitzpleasure, and before the set was even half over, they covered their most popular songs, including Something Good, Tessellate, and Matilda.    

Since last performing in Atlanta six months ago, singer Joe Newman has grown his hair out a little and grown a beard (clean-shaven face at The Masquerade below), giving him a look more appropriate to the band's sound.  They also now employ synchronized stage lights instead of the Awesome Wave aerial photograph backdrop they used at The Masquerade (although it would have provided an interesting contrast to Lord Huron's backdrop).  

Alt-J at The Masquerade, March 8, 2013

Their sound was pretty much the same - which is a good thing - but in addition to their improved appearance, that also had a lot more swagger.  The boys are getting comfortable on the large stage.

"You're by far the loudest audience of the tour," keyboardist Gus Unger-Hamilton announced during the encore, before launching into Breezeblocks, adding, in typical reserved British fashion, "but in a good way, of course."

Final note:  the show started at the unusually early hour of 7:30 pm - not doors opening at 7:30, but the actual show beginning, Lord Huron taking the stage at 7:30.  With only two bands on the bill, I was able to get home by 10:00 pm, before the first band usually even starts at 529.