The Antlers, Ra Ra Riot Play Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival

Posted on Feb 6th 2010 3:00PM by Ginny Yang
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The Antlers and Ra Ra Riot teamed up for a performance at BAM's Howard Gilman Opera House Friday night as part of the venue's Sounds Like Brooklyn Festival. And based on the evening, the borough sounds like a mix of bittersweet harmonies, soaring strings and reverb.

The Antlers, pictured, opened with a cathartic set that showcased their alternately hushed and menacing melodies. The trio, joined by two horn players, played feedback-heavy versions of 'Sylvia,' 'Bear,' 'Two' and other tracks off of their debut album, Hospice. Halfway through their performance, audience members filtered out of their assigned seats to gather in front of the stage to be closer to the band. "We're really excited and overwhelmed to be here," declared frontman Peter Silberman.

Rather than focusing on meandering instrumental interludes, Ra Ra Riot filled the grand space with precise orchestration. The six members of the band, who are from Syracuse, N.Y., bounded across the stage and kept switching instruments as they performed. The band even brought out a revolving cast of back-up musicians to bolster singer Wes Miles' honeyed vocals. After playing tunes off 2008's 'The Rhumb Line,' the frontman scurried across the stage, giving each audience members rounds of double-handed high-fives. The collective then returned for a three-song encore, closing the night with an exuberant rendition of Kate Bush's 'Hounds of Love.'

Meanwhile, over in neighboring Gowanus, tUnE-yArDs played the Bell House as the headliner of another Sounds Like Brooklyn event.

The Antlers on AOL Music
Ra Ra Riot on AOL Music