Bands represented: Kye Kye (Camas, WA), Fever Fever (Columbus, OH), The Castros (Columbus, OH)
A couple weeks ago, three buzz bands rocked central Ohio with blend of folk and ambient indie sensibility. As I will explain later. the night was more hard-hitting ambient rock than folk, and one of the best one-off shows to hit Columbus in recent months.
Marco and Sara Castro, collectively known as The Castros have been making a name for themselves around town for quite awhile now, playing everywhere from coffee shops to outdoor festivals. Marco has become a personal friend of mine, and believe me when I tell you his passion for music is contagious. He and Sara warmed up the crowd, performing a slew of originals including their song “Here in Columbus,” penned to celebrate the city’s bicentennial.
Fever Fever, the ambient rock quartet who have been beginning to make a name for themselves out of state played as direct support to Kye Kye that night, playing a mix of tunes from their LP LoveQuest as well as their new Kingdom EP. Despite lead vocalist Andrew Murfin later telling me he was battling a bout of bronchitis that night I didn’t notice any flaws in his performance, other than maybe a bit of restraint. The band was as passionate as ever, and had their complete whimsical light show set up on stage with them. The set came to huge finale with Murfin pounding on a huge drum during “Beautiful Dream,” a single recently featured in our Trending Single Reviews feature. Their inclusion of a cover of Young the Giant’s “My Body” was also fun.
Kye Kye took the stage in darkness before being backlit by their custom light show which they have perfected over the last couple of years. The performance paralleled the Young Love album for the first three songs: Reach was followed by Broke and Introduce Myself. Let me tell you – Kye Kye are an intense band to watch live. But, they never lose their humility. “Broke” in particular was just as epic live as one would imagine. The band followed that up with a new song, and remixes of “Walking This” and “Trees and Trust.” I actually prefer the remix of the latter to the actual song, but I digress. Other songs that made appearances included “Peace Song,” “Knowing This,” “Sleeper,” and finally “My Sight.” The band took time to be very bold about their inspiration from Christ, explaining the importance of everyone’s inner spirit and then sharing the Gospel with the audience. Last but not least I can’t wrap up this review without a shout-out to their lights and sound guy, who seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit as he directed what happened onstage. Kye Kye are in short, one of those “don’t miss” bands that have the potential to really break out. Bands beware – if you book these guys as an opening act, they may outshine you.
