Lord Huron Creates Storytelling Magic at Merriweather Post Pavilion
BY LIZ BAUMMERMerriweather Post Pavilion is, in my mind, without a doubt one of the best places to be on a summer evening. Despite being in the midst of a Maryland heatwave with raging humidity, fans packed into the pavilion and up the hill as far as the eye could see to watch Lord Huron and Waxahatchee take the stage on this Tuesday.
While initially unfamiliar with Waxahatchee prior to this performance, I certainly now understand why the opener had fans out of their seats as she performed. Fans were up and swaying to the music for the entirety of her set. In fact she’s so popular she’ll be back at Merriweather Post Pavilion on September 14 for Outlaw Music Festival with Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, and Madeline Edwards. Waxahatchee’s voice is the perfect summer sound. With a genre that bridges between folk and country, it is easy to imagine laying in the grass near a creek listening to her music as a summer breeze rustles past. I would argue laying on the Merriweather hill in the middle of July while listening to Waxahatchee is pretty close to replicating that feeling.
A beautiful sunset painted the sky as the audience prepared for Lord Huron to take the stage, a beautiful visual foreshadowing to the emotional and stunning performance the band was about to provide. It goes without saying that Lord Huron is musically gifted on another level. The songwriting, vocals, instrumentals and performance aspects are so perfectly intertwined that the idea of one existing without the other is a foreign concept. The first thing I noticed, before the band even took the stage, about the performance was the stage set up. With a set that would rival any professional theatre set up, the stage was outfitted with a multi-tiered platform allowing every single person on stage to be easily seen by the audience. Other important elements (to be discussed later) including the Cosmic Selector and a telephone were stationed on different levels of the stage for the band members and dancers (also to be discussed later to interact with). Overall the stage set up was visually impressive and incredibly practical for the type of visual art and performance that the crowd was going to get to see.
The most beautiful thing about Lord Huron’s performance style is how strong and pervasive storytelling is throughout their set. There were many references and lore, including the iconic Cosmic Selector, that have followed the band from album to album and tour to tour. There is something so incredibly special about artists that not only excel at music talent but also excel at worldbuilding. This really allowed the fans to become a part of and experience the artist’s music not just in listening but also in living and feeling.
A large part of Lord Huron’s storytelling was accomplished by dancers who performed periodically onstage and also in the audience. The incredibly talented Marin Rylee and Javonte’ Marquez effortlessly depicted the different themes throughout the show with breathtaking dance performances incorporated throughout the set. They interacted with members of the band, the Cosmic Selector, and the telephone on stage. They also came into the audience to dance on the pathway by the soundboard of the pavilion. By essentially performing on a secondary stage within the audience, the performance pulled concertgoers physically into the performance by making the entire venue the stage. I was blown away by how effortless and breathtaking the two dancers were, and how Lord Huron has curated such a beautiful performance in perfect harmony with the music of their setlist. Both the visual and music art depicted across the performance provoked incredible emotions and sentiment that one form of art could not do without the other.
Experiencing a Lord Huron show is experiencing music and art on another level. The immersiveness, storytelling, and stage setup paired with their unmatched musical talent treats fans to a one of a kind, once in a lifetime type of show!
