Temples at First Avenue, Minneapolis (24 April 2014)

Two Harbors

Opening up the show was local Two Harbors, unveiling tracks from their latest album The Natural Order of Things (out in May on Susstones Records). Singer Chris Pavlich is dressed accordingly, in 60-ish mod fashion, wearing his influence on his sleeve as they say.

Two Harbors Setlist photo: Two Harbors

As you can see from their setlist, with the exception of their 2011 single "You Pulled The Rug Out", all the tracks were taken from The Natural Order of Things.

If you missed them this time around, the band will likely play The Natural Order of Things on their upcoming show at the Cause Spirits and Soundbar on May 16th.

Drowners

The only thing I knew about Drowners coming into this show was that I thought they took their name from Suede's debut single, "The Drowners". As soon as they exploded on stage with "How the f*** are you Minneapolis?," I knew I would like them.

Drowners Setlist

Take a look at their setlist, which appears to be carved from their dinner (a pizza box) with unique artwork and stickers. You can just tell that the band does not take themselves too seriously and having a good time on the road.

The band seemingly are opposite of Temples, where they stretch out their songs, Drowners just quickly hit you with a one-two punch with their music.

The other thing to note is that although their singer, Matthew Hitt, is from Wales, they are actually from New York, currently signed to Frenchkiss Records.

Temples: James Edward Bagshaw

After Temples took the stage in complete darkness and completing their first song, "Colours to Life", singer James Edward Bagshaw seemed really pleased at the turnout, saying, "Still can't believe there's so many of you out there… So thank you!" He would later add during "Move With the Season" how he's still in disbelief, "Can't believe we sold more tickets here than in Liverpool. We should move here!"

Temples Setlist

Take one look at the Northamptonshire band's setlist, it didn't seem like they played that many tracks, however every one of their songs are extended live, adding ever changing soundscape, in typical psychedelic fashion.

Although I can see the late-Beatles comparison from critics and fans, it seems to me that their influence originally is from Eastern Indian music (which, incidentally, the Beatles was also heavily influenced on The Beatles (The White Album)), particularly with usages of the name temples/worship and the Elephant god Ganesha. Some of their guitar work, playing live, sounds as if they they were trying to reproduce the distinctive sitar sound.

After playing over an hour, they came back with their two biggest 'hit' songs, "Mesmerise" and "Shelter Song", on their encore, complete with extra long, extended, epic outros… leaving the audience wanting more and more. Unfortunately, the house music started playing and the lights came out, indicating that the show was over.

Temples are currently on tour in support of Sun Structures, out now on Fat Possum. Be sure to show up early to catch Drowners; although the two band's music do not match, I enjoyed them both.