Concert Review: Low @ Record Bar

BY IAN HRABE

Though I longed to find the crowd at the Record Bar sitting cross-legged on the floor, as I did the last time Low played here, the place was surprisingly packed. And packed with the exact kind of perfectly attentive people that a Low show requires (with the exception of the standard “the band is quiet so we will jabber” people at the back near the bar).

For some reason, Low decided to randomly grace KC last night with the first show on a three-date micro-tour, and it was easily my #1 contender for Show of the Summer.

Given that Low doesn’t have an album to tour in support of (their latest, Drums and Guns, came out two-and-a-half years ago), the set list had an incredible mix of old stuff, new stuff, really old stuff and brand new stuff, even culling two tracks from their debut LP, 1994’s I Could Live in Hope.

The drum machine prominently featured on most of the songs from Drums and Guns was completely absent, which led to hauntingly beautiful (and often incredibly slowed down) renditions of “Always Fade,” “Dragonfly” and “In Silence.”

“Like a Forest,” one of the highlights from Things We Lost in the Fire lost a lot of the sadness of the recording and came out as an absolutely euphoric pop song without sacrificing any of its original elegance.