Warpaint put on a stunning show with Sego at the Van Buren. It was a night where a love for music shined and transcended the normal expectation of a concert. There were no theatrics – simply music, artist, and audience.
Sego
Imagine texting your favorite band while they’re on stage. Perfect, you’ve experienced a fraction of what it’s like at a Sego concert. By far, one of the coolest, grooviest bands I’ve ever seen. Their sound is interesting; indie-rock doesn’t even scratch the surface. There’s no real definitive genre that fits them well, which makes for an amazing setlist. Each song has a new vibe and creates a new atmosphere, keeping the audience on their feet and entertained.
It’s always fun to see late comers – who clearly are there for the headliner – become immediately engaged with bands they haven’t heard of before. Cheers and claps grew exponentially in volume from the beginning of their performance versus the end. They performed “Ruckus”, a song they released with DJ and producer Kaskade. This song immediately peaked the crowd’s interest and was a really cool setlist switch up. Immediately following that, something that really seemed to get the crowd going was the band’s fabulous cover of “Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?” by Paula Cole. They made it a little more rock and it blew me away.
A lot of the songs they performed aren’t released on streaming platforms, only on vinyl. Which makes my Spotify self a bit sad, but makes my concert goer self happy. Their concert became that much more special and important.
Sego is a band that cares about the music. They’re not flashy or dramatic or performative. They’re artists. Whether there is 3 people in the audience or 300, they put their love into the music and it was beautiful to experience.
*Also want to note: They allowed photographers in the pit for the entire set!
Warpaint
Have you ever listened to a band so mesmerizing that when the music stops you almost feel like your soul has to come back into your body? That’s Warpaint.
These girls have an aura about them that takes up the entire stage, despite the fact that for most of the performance they stay relatively still. And when they do move, it is almost as if their body gets picked up by the music. Their stage lighting composed of very specific colors and was relatively dark, but vibrant. And it matched the music beautifully. Watching them was genuinely an other-worldly experience.
In the same vain as opener Sego, it’s clear the band internalizes the music they’re playing. They play with a sort of fire that turns them one with the instrument.
As the music for their song “Billie Holiday” started, I was stunned at what filled the venue. If you’ve heard the song, you know there’s a beautiful vocal layering over a soft guitar strum. Hearing it through headphones does not come close to the experience of hearing it live. It’s so haunting and immense, floating through the venue and taking up so much space. It’s beautiful.
Warpaint has been around for quite a while, and it’s clear the band has sustained all that time because of their artistry. The music they play comes from them, not the instruments. Theres an admiration for the music and a love for the vessel that makes it. They’re atmospheric and mesmerizing and affecting. But they’re simple. And its so nice to be at a show where there’s no expectation to jump or cheer. Everyone in the crowd let the music move them and evoke whatever they feel. It was about the music.
