Future Islands
Words and Photos by: Justin Scholz
Whether you’re ready or not, live shows are (generally) back. Although there is ongoing daily uncertainty of how long this pandemic will last, with more and more cancellations creeping up, being back in the thick of it brought a strange mix of comfort and anxiety. Strangely enough, the comfort came from the inane banter of a crowd that just wanna get back into feeling good, and dare I say, normal. Future Islands is just the band to welcome you with open arms and make sure you know that things will be better.
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The minimalistic angular backdrop and singular pedestal for the band left a long, wide runway for Sam Herring to display his signature non-stop aerobic dancing. Rockettes style kicking and solo mosh-pitting keeps a smile on everyone’s face through the entirety of every song and even in-between. Couple that with vocals that run the gamut of guttural growling to powerful crooning about love gained, sought, or lost, everyone delved into feelings they never knew they had. At no time during the 1-1/2 hour set was there space to wonder about your emotions. Sam gets you into the moment and keeps you there, leaving it up to you to figure it out on your own time.
In the end, with another pair of pants ripped and encore songs falling silent, Sam bid farewell to The Greek. The near-capacity crowd was placated. Merch booths were emptied out. The incoherent words of young adults that had one too many beers faded into the hills. But we all felt the love.
