Langhorne Slim and The Low Anthem played earlier this week at the Southgate House and live reviewer Dave Rolfes was in attendance. Here is his review and another great set of photos from Keith Klenowski.

The great run of live shows in the area continued on Monday night at the Southgate House where The Low Anthem and Langhorne Slim took the stage in the ballroom. Fresh off a trip to both the Newport Folk Festival and Lollapalooza, this unlikely pair resumed a short run of shows together with their local stop. The Low Anthem are a three piece band from Providence, RI and use a vast array of instruments to create a sparse, yet fresh, sound. Langhorne Slim is slightly more traditional, backed by drums and an upright bass his punk folk can be loud and raucous. While he was the headliner, we here at ENS were definitely looking forward to seeing both acts.

The first thing that stood out about The Low Anthem was the wide array of unusual instruments they brought along with them. Before they even took the stage the crowd was curious about what they saw. There was a cymbal looking instrument in the front, there was an old organ on the side. There were horns, an upright bass and even an electric bass. There was little doubt that our time spent with The Low Anthem was going to be unique.

Once the band came on they did not disappoint. Over the course of the first five songs the members switched between instruments after each song and kept us guessing as to where they would go next. Singer Ben Knox Miller started on the acoustic guitar, but moved around to the organ (which was from World War I), the drums, and back to the guitar. Meanwhile, Jocie Adams moved from the crotales (the cymbal looking instrument that she played with a bow) to a clarinet, and she even picked up the electric bass for a few of the sets heavier songs. Even with all the combinations that they gave us, it still took until the fifth song in the to hear someone bang on the drums. And while this was the opener, the crowd at Southgate could not have been any more considerate as they gave The Low Anthem their undivided attention throughout their time on stage.

The twelve song set leaned heavily on the material from their most recent release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin but included some other gems as well. While they played album favorites such as “Charlie Darwin, “The Horizon is a Beltway”, and of course “To Ohio” which was the closer, they also gave us a few unexpected treats as well. One such song was “Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around”, a cover of the Blind Willie Mitchell song from the 1930s. There were also a few new songs added in alongside “This God Damn House” from their first album which concluded with a nifty trick involving two cellphones. Whether it be an antique organ or the modern day phone, this threesome were interested in about any sound they could find and explore.

From the moment The Low Anthem took the stage they commanded the room. Their unique sound, instruments, songs, and even appearance really captured the crowd’s attention and never let it go. For one hour they owned the ballroom at Southgate and those who were in attendance will remember a new kind of unique and smart folk music from The Low Anthem on their first trip into the Cincinnati area.

For the latter part of the evening, Langhorne Slim took the stage. While his albums are full of energy and truly can be thought of as punk folk, Langhorne and his band took a much quieter approach to his set, maybe after he saw how his predecessors won the room over. While it was still an enjoyable trek through some of the better known songs in his catalog, it was honestly a bit disappointing. For instance, both “Hello Sunshine” and “Rebel Side Heaven”, which are two of the standout songs on his most recent release “Langhorne Slim”, were done solo acoustic style whereas they are played with a ton of energy on the album.

The band also indulged the crowd to some tunes from his older albums “The Electric Love Letter” and “When the Sun’s Gone Down” as he stomped around the stage and played his guitar vertically channeling a bit of Johnny Cash. We were also given a preview of some material from the album “Be Set Free” which is due out on September 29 on Kemado Records. The evening came to a close with the classic “I Love to Dance” which wrapped up a two song encore and put a cap on the show for the night.

This definitely was one of those evenings that leave you wondering. What is on the horizon for The Low Anthem and Langhorne Slim? The Low Anthem have released an album that will very likely show up on many Top 10 lists at the end of the year, and put on a show that only added to the shroud of mystery instead of lifting the veil. Meanwhile, Langhorne has a new album coming out and undoubtedly will continue to play his straight ahead kind of music out on tour in support of it. As with most things in this world, only time will tell what the future holds for these two sets of musicians.