Written By : Casey McNamara, UCLA Radio DJ
Photos By: Carlo Cruz, Red Bull Sound Select Content Pool
Post Date : 11/10/16
Sunflower Bean played to an eager crowd at the Roxy on Day Two of the Red Bull Sound Select 30 Days in LA music festival. The Brooklyn psych rock outfit returned to the Sunset Strip almost a year to the day after they opened for DIIV on a string of fall tour dates. These days, Sunflower Bean are headlining a national tour and basking in the critical adoration garnered by their debut record for Fat Possum, Human Ceremony. In the relatively intimate space of the Roxy, the audience was palpably transfixed by their unique blend of classic rock bombast and modern indie, listening intently and only starting to move towards the end of the show, when lead guitarist Nick Kivlen hopped off the stage and into the crowd.
The trio have a formidable sound live, managing to give off a more muscular vibe than one might expect from their record. In fact, almost everything about the band is magnified in person. Lead singer and bass guitarist Julia Cummings’ voice is unusually dynamic. In her higher register, she sounds ethereal and detached, and in her lower register, raw and emotive. Guitarist Nick Kivlen occasionally sings too, in a punk-rock tone that matches Cummings’ intensity. They opened with the mid-tempo title track from their album, “Human Ceremony,” which had lyrics that echoed the stage dynamic, with Kivlen interjecting from the other side of the stage, “In your right hand, theres a potion…” Dressed in bell bottoms and a button-up shirt with ruffles, he resembled a young Bob Dylan in person, and played an intricate solo on closing song, “Space Exploration Disaster”. Cummings kept the stage banter to a minimum, but she expressed how grateful they were to be there and also spoke from the heart about her love of Red Bull™, which was brought out on the stage during the performance and thrown into the crowd.
The set was comprised mostly of songs from their debut, but “Tame Impala” and “Somebody Call A Doctor” were highlights from their 2015 EP Show Me Your Seven Seasons. For the encore, the band played lead single, “Easier Said”, which has jangly guitar lines and lovelorn lyrics that remind me of the Cranberries in the best way possible. Before leaving the stage, Kivlen reminded the crowd that on the following day, the band would be the first live concert streamed on MTV in over ten years. Sunflower Bean are the perfect example of the reason why live rock music is just as popular as ever. Even if they weren’t breaking new ground, they gave the audience a blissed out break from the real world.