Photo credit: Melissa Miller
A midsized crowd of indie-rock fans came out to the Turner Hall Ballroom for the first Milwaukee show of the Grand Rapids septet The Soil & The Sun. Madison’s “farm rock” band The Sharrows and locals Animals in Human Attire opened. The Soil & the Sun has been on the road for a few Midwest shows supporting their third and latest album, last year’s Meridian. The band rolled up in a red-white-and-blue-striped school bus earlier in the day and stopped by 88Nine for a set before heading over to Turner Hall.
The band describes their genre as “New Mexican space music/experimental spiritual orchestral rock,” which is as close to an accurate description as you’ll get, although something about “prog-folk-rock” might work, too. Throughout the night, the seven musicians showed off their multi-tasking ability by incorporating a variety of instruments to create complex, layered melodies with keyboards, a violin, multiple percussionists and even an oboe at one point—anything that worked.
Show highlights came early in the set, with two of the best tracks off Meridian. “Samyaza,” is one of the album’s livelier songs. Eerily backlit on stage, the band worked through the moody song, which flowed and transitioned via violin solo into a frequently played favorite on indie radio airwaves, “Are You?” The song has a lush, beautifully harmonized sound. It is comparable, aurally, to a fresh cup of organic coffee in the morning, mellow and bold. After those tracks, they debuted a new song they had been working on (they didn’t give a name) for the Milwaukee audience. The band reflects their earthy name well and the audience was enjoyably lost in the atmosphere. Other highlights of the set included the dreamy song “Lost Lovers” and “The Physics of Immortality,” both also off Meridian. It was a satisfying, skilled performance from the Michiganians.
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“Thanks for making our first visit to Milwaukee special for us!” lead vocalist and guitarist Alex McGrath told the audience before the band packed it in.
