Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
Street of Laredo, an eclectic six-piece who originate from Auckland, Zealand but now call the not so mean streets of Brooklyn home, recently lit up the posh confines of the Rose Bar, tucked inside the bowels of the Gramercy Park Hotel, to the delight of literally every soul lucky enough to be in attendance on the evening.
The choice of venue seemed a curious one initially as the Rose Bar in terms of total square footage isn’t all that much larger than a deluxe suite at a boutique hotel in neighboring Chelsea. As it turned out the intimate setting ended up providing the perfect backdrop for the performance as Streets of Laredo’s music has this intensely personal DNA weaved into its very essence.
One of the band’s core strengths as performers are their inter personal relationships with one another on stage and off. Thus their playing to such a confined space served to actually highlight those bonds while also providing the audience a sense of truly being part of something that seemed distinctively unique.
The band comprised of siblings Daniel (vocals/guitar) and David Gibson (drums/backing vocals), Sarahjane Gibson (vocals/percussion), Cameron Deyell (guitar), Sean McMahon (bass) and Andrew Mcgovern (trumpet/synths/percussion) have just begun the touring cycle for their recently released and critically well received sophomore LP Wild, which has already spawned not one but two chart climbing singles, “99.9%” and “Silly Bones”.
Sonically Streets of Laredo are probably best described as mash up of indie, folk, rock and dream pop. The band leans as heavily on their musical acumen as they do these rich harmonies that serve to evoke a myriad of feelings. Wild is more of a natural progression from Streets of Laredo debut, 2014’s Volume I and II and the band leaned heavily on the new music throughout the course the evening.
Full of catchy melodies, warm harmonies and musical diversity SOL treated the Rose Bar faithful to resplendent takes on tracks that included “Hammer and Nails”, “Wild” and “Remedies”. The playfulness the band displayed with one another and with the crowd only served to further the bonds they were forging with each and every note of music played.
The genre of indie-pop, Americana, folk-rock or whatever you want to label the universe Streets of Laredo plies their musical wares throughout is littered these days with bands possessing loads of flash but little in terms of substance. Streets of Laredo are the counter balance to this sentiment as their proficiency as musicians as well as song writers easily makes their music rise above the countless pretenders trying desperately to become the next big thing.
And you see that’s the beauty of Streets of Laredo right there, they don’t have try to impress. Instead the band organically achieves a symbiosis with one another musical that naturally bleeds into establishing genuine connections with their fan base. Music that forces thought and drives emotions, check. Talented musicians whose bonds with one another to create a dynamic that can’t be denied on stage or off, check.
There’s really nothing left to say in terms of Streets of Laredo except the clock is ticking regarding your opportunity to see them play the club and theater circuit, as I have more than a strong suspicion they’ll be playing on stages big enough to house ten Rose Bar stages combined sooner rather than later.
Streets of Laredo Links:
http://streetsoflaredomusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/streetsoflaredo/
https://twitter.com/streetsoflaredo
