Live Review: Local Natives - EartH Hall, London - 28/10/2024
Local Natives live in London. A long-awaiting reunion and a bittersweet farewell.
On a Monday evening tinged with nostalgia and bittersweet significance, enduring indie-rock darlings Local Natives returned to London for their first UK show in over five years at Dalston’s EartH Hall. It was a return to a city where the LA-based quintet found early success and one which those in attendance will have considered as lamentable as it was long-awaited, with co-frontman Kelcey Ayer announcing his amicable departure from the band back in April – this being his final run of tour dates with Local Natives whose music, since their genesis over 15 years ago, has been as much a product of close friendship as it has artistic collaboration.
Kicking off proceedings on the night, support act Freak Slug enjoyed a warm reception as the sell-out crowd filed in from Stoke Newington Road. The slick Manchester four-piece showcased material from their imminent debut LP I Blow Out Big Candles as well as a hazy rendition of their 2020 breakout single Radio and a delicate reworking of Joy Divisions Disorder.
Shortly thereafter, following a brief changeover during which the crowd grew to capacity, the five beaming members of Local Natives emerged on to the stage, finding their positions amongst a dizzying array of mic stands and instruments.
“It’s so good to be back, it’s been way too long, we missed you” gushes Taylor Rice whose blistering guitar-solo brings opening song Just Before the Morning to a frenetic close. And as the 1200 or so fans crowded into EartH Hall will attest, he is right. Since Local Natives last played in the UK, they have released two LP’s, 2023’s Time Will Wait for No One and this years follow-up companion album But I Will Wait for You.
The band - comprising Taylor Rice (vocals, guitar), Kelcey Ayer (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ryan Hahn (guitar, backing vocals), Matthew Frazier (drums) and Nik Ewing (bass, keyboards, vocals) - have delivered buoyant, mellifluous indie records with remarkable consistency since their deeply cherished 2009 debut Gorilla Manor and on this all-too-rare UK performance, the band reached at all corners of their impressive discography to deliver a career-spanning 20 song set.
Megaton Mile, from the 2019 album Violet Street is delivered with an intoxicating urgency as departing leadman Kelcey Ayer closes the space between band and audience, thrashing across the stage front hoisting a tambourine and drumstick high above his head. April and latest single Throw it in the Fire, both from the most recent album, are given UK live debuts. Hugely popular 2017 single I Saw You Close Your Eyes, with its distinctive guitar riff and infectious choral hook sounds flawless live.
If there is a musical aspect that defines Local Natives oeuvre, besides the cohesive, omnipresent group harmonies, it is the dexterity which embodies their songwriting and permeates through to their live performances; each member of the band instinctively oscillates between instruments during and between songs. Ryan Hahn takes lead vocals on up-tempo number NYE before switching to acoustic guitar, underpinning the gorgeous harmonies of Alpharetta. Nik Ewing’s synth bass coalesces with soaring vocals on Coins (from 2016’s Sunlit Youth), a song on which Ayer’s opening lyrics (“Time stands still and then one day it’s gone. Where did it go? Where did I go?”) seem prophetic and poignant.
Predictably, the highlights of the set came with sentimental performances of fan-favourites from Gorilla Manor. Taylor Rice took time to address the significance of the evening (“London, this means so much to us. This is like our first home from home. We feel a special closeness with London”) before dedicating the anthemic Airplanes to those in attendance who helped with the release of the debut record. An energetic performance of Sun Hands followed with Rice invoking London to “give us all you got” before diving into the crowd for the final refrains of the “last” song before the band members briefly disappeared from the stage.
Returning for an inevitable yet enthusiastically received encore, the band played a final three songs. Columbia (“If you never felt all of my love, I pray now you do”), a sublime rendition of Who Knows, Who Cares and then the ultimate, almost literal, dedication When Am I Gonna Lose You. The choice of songs was almost certainly purposeful - having begun playing music together as teenagers and, considering themselves as much a brotherhood as they are band, Local Natives have always taken a resolutely collaborative approach to every aspect of their creative output from album artwork to songwriting to setlists for live shows - and this one - equally moving, celebratory and reflective, was a beautifully crafted farewell as Kelcey Ayer’s departs and the band moves in to a new era.
Words by Elliot Houchell
Photography by Abigail Shii
