Camera Obscura w/The Essex Green @ The Opera House

I haven’t been to a really good show for a while, so I was very excited to go to this one. The Essex Green is a band that I’ve been very curious about for a while but have never really taken the time to get to know them. Although I missed the start of their set, what I did catch was excellent. They’re clearly influenced by the folk / pop records of the 60’s, and they even like to throw in a bit of good old fashioned twang. From what I hear, their latest release, Cannibal Sea, is very good and this show convinced me that I should check it out soon. And, at the risk of sounding like a mullet-haired teenager at a Rush concert, the drummer is awesome!

Download: Don’t Know Why You Stay mp3
Listen to more of their music on myspace.
Buy “Cannibal Sea” at Merge Records.

Camera Obscura melted my heart. For the first few songs, it looked like the banter with the audience was going to be minimal, but as the show progressed, the band continued to make a few attempts at interacting with the crowd. Comprised mainly of selections from the “Let’s Get Out Of This Country” release, the songs really translated well to the live stage. I think most of the people at the overpacked Opera House have seen them before, but the double shot of “Lloyd I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken” and “If Looks Could Kill” still made the fans positively giddy. And I love the accent.

Download: If Looks Could Kill mp3
Visit their myspace page.
Buy “Let’s Get Out Of This Country” at Merge Records.

I was too far away to get any good pictures of Essex Green but you can check out my pics of Camera Obscura on my flickr page.
And, as usual, Chromewaves has even better pictures on his website.