Show Review

Awhile back, late last year, I stumbled across this band and was immediately impressed with their unique style. I love the way the band mixes elements of folk and rock to form a band that is unlike really any other. I’d heard a lot about their live show and couldn’t wait to see them play one of my favorite venues in the Denver area—and long story short, they absolutely killed it.

There weren’t too many of us there, but we all were incredibly excited to see the band. I feel like the band has a niche of fans who have found them and fallen in love with them—and few others who have heard of them period. Basically, I think that Dear And The Headlights are the kind of band that, if you hear them once, you’ll absolutely love them. I was a bit nervous to see if the singer could handle the energetic, constant vocals of several of their songs—and he didn’t let me down. The whole band, in fact, maintained a level of energy during their songs that require a lot of it that was quite appeasing.

As expected they played a TON of songs from “Small Steps, Heavy Hooves,” but they also played an older song from their demos that I absolutely love and a new song that was amazing. I couldn’t believe the energy level the band exhibited—at one point their guitarist was sliding around on the floor basically having a seizure—and their singer constantly sang his heart out and you could tell was really pushing it. It was really fun to watch. The strangest part of their set was towards the end—when it became apparent they weren’t going to play “Run In The Front,” easily my favorite track (and several of my friends agreed) from their album—but when we yelled it they played it with utmost dexterity.

The band’s ability to balance delicate, blissful vocals with loud, energetic rock was truly unfathomable. It’s very safe to say that Dear And The Headlights put on one of the best, most intimate and vigorous sets I’ve seen in a really, really long time. I can’t wait for people to start realizing that this band is doing something completely different from everyone else: intelligent, streak-free songwriting.

review by Andrew Martin