How do you fit eight people on stage at the Mad Hatter in Covington? I’m not sure, but I saw it happen when Los Campesinos! took the stage on Wednesday evening there. With Cymbals Eat Guitars opening, we at ENS were looking forward to this show as it stopped through the area, and the bands did not disappoint.

Heading into the show, I was a little curious about Los Campesinos! as a live act. Their studio work is great, but with and eight piece band and the frantic pace at which they play I was a little skeptical about how they could pull it off live. Let’s just say I walked away from the evening with a whole new appreciation for the band as they not only brought the energy I expected, but their playing as a cohesive unit was quite impressive.

Early on in the set, LC did a great job mixing songs from their newest release “Romance is Boring” and the 2008 album “Hold on Now, Youngster…” which got the crowd involved and engaged for the entire evening. The early placement of “Death to Los Campesinos!” was enough to get everyone on board for the evening even though the place was only about a third full.

As they wrapped up the first half of their set, singer Gareth asked the crowd if there were any questions. Seeing as how we had already done our interview with the band, I let other folks ask what they wanted. The first thing on the mind of the crowd? Were the three girls in the band single? Some deep journalistic stuff there. Gareth laughed it off and onward they went.

As the night went on the band continued to do a great job mixing their catalog up for the set. They would play a few from the new album that the crowd seemed less familiar with, and then bounce back to something like “This Is How You Spell “Hahaha, We Destroyed the Hopes & Dreams” which was a sing along favorite of the night. Then it would be time for another question.

“Did you try a Kentucky Hot Brown today?” Gareth again laughed the question before leading the band into the next song. Though he did confess to eating dairy for the first time in about three years that day, though it was accidental of course. I was curious how that happened. He also mentioned that they made a trip to Arnie’s for lunch, so maybe that had something to do with it.

All in all, the band played about a little over an hour and was extraordinarily impressive in just about every way. From the energy, to the musicianship, to the involvement Gareth brought out of the crowd which included taking the microphone to the bar area and singing a verse or two from the top of the table out there. While the show may have been more fun in a packed venue, the engaging crowd did make the show very enjoyable.

While they didn’t play an official encore, the closer of the night was “You! Me! Dancing!” which started with the drummer Ollie standing on top of his drum set and Gareth banging on the drums for the intro. It was a great closer and one that left everyone singing and dancing through the end of the song. Not surprising, just like the rest of their show Los Campesinos! really seemed to be thoughtful in their plan and near flawless in their execution.

The opener Cymbals Eat Guitars was more than solid. Their live show, at least this evening, was a lot rawer than I expected walking in. Lead singer Joseph D’Agostino was passionate in his delivery which was a little over the top at times with his throaty vocals, but it was clear that the band was tight and that musically they could really play. When the music was at the forefront they were very impressive and I walked away thinking that if they wanted to Cymbals Eat Guitars could be a huge commercial success if they wanted to be. Instead they seem to have chosen a more artistic path, and we are fine with that too.

-Dave Rolfes