Sylvan Esso at Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, January 15, 2015

This has been the winter of my discontent - the long, cold season between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day when few touring artists bother to play Atlanta.  Fortunately, North Carolina's Sylvan Esso have decided to kick off their 2015 tour here in town, and last night they played the Variety Playhouse.

First, though, Helado Negro opened.

Helado Negro is from Brooklyn by way of Florida by way of Ecuador, and the multi-cultural influences can easily be heard in his music.  He sang seductive songs accompanied only by a small array of electronics and three enigmatic persons covered in tinsel on stage with him.  In his stage banter, he revealed himself as a slightly shy but friendly and humble man,  A thoroughly enjoyable set, and at 45 minutes, his set was almost as long as the headliners, and that's not a complaint about either set.    The music warmed my Latin heart, and encouraged me to keep ever-so-gently shuffling my feet. 

Headliners Sylvan Esso were up next.

Sylvan Esso is the electropop duo of Amelia Meath (Mountain Man) and producer Nick Sanborn (Megafaun).  The sold-out audience contained a large number of what appeared to be high-school girls, and they were clearly excited to be there and enthusiastically greeted the band.  

Sanborn provided all of the instrumentation and Meath sang and danced.  Say what you will about her (and it better be nice), but the woman knows how to rock a pleated skirt.  Their music, with Meath's warm indie-pop vocals and Sanborn's hip-hop influenced laptop beats, reminded me at times of the band Purity Ring, although there's something more fun and playful in Sylvan Esso's sound than Purity Ring's. 

They played every song from their debut eponymous LP, and toward the end of the set, Sanborn asked if everyone in the audience realized before buying thier ticket that the band only has one album, so there's only so many songs they have.  Still, they played a new number for their encore, 

They kept the stage pretty dark for most of their set - at times, it seemed like the brightest light on the stage was from the Apple logo on Sanborn's Macbook - making photography difficult.  But just as well, we could stuff our phones back in our pockets and just enjoy the show.  

A great start to 2015.  Perhaps I should start a tally of bands seen this year.