In the always bitter cold state we call Ohio, a bit of sunshine finally hit the House of Blues in Cleveland on March 9th when the Little Machines tour hit town. The tour package included X Ambassadors and Lights.

Photos by Samantha Skapin

The show opened with the band X Ambassadors. The band has been gaining quite some popularity within the past couple months with their hit song “Jungle“, which has over 3 million views on Youtube as well as being featured in the “Pitch Perfect” sequel trailer. I had heard a couple of their songs and was very interested in seeing what their live performance would be like. The guys opened with their song “Free and Lonely” off of their new EP “The Reason“, and I was floored. Sam Harris’ voice is incredibly powerful and soulful, and the harmonies accompanied by both guitarist Noah Feldshuh and Sam’s brother Casey Harris on the keys were spot on. A lot of their set included songs with saxophone being played and looped by Sam, which gave each song a completely new dynamic. They played a couple of new songs, as well as songs from their first EP, “Love Songs Drug Songs“, such as their hit “Unconsolable“. In the last few minutes of the set, they took the time to showcase Casey Harris’ incredible talent on piano before going into their slightly new rendition of “Jungle”, which had everyone pumped up and ready to see Lights. X Ambassadors’ set was great and even more than what I expected. I definitely will check them out again and (somehow) try and stay patient for their full-length album. But until then, definitely check out “Love Songs Drug Songs” and “The Reason“.

Next to play was who everyone was waiting for; Lights. This was my second time seeing her within the span of three days, and I was still incredibly excited. I had heard of Lights a couple years ago, and her electro-pop sound was so different and intriguing that I’ve been a fan and avid listener ever since. Lights quietly walked onto stage with her trademark grin on her face, and sat down at the piano to start off the set with a intro to one of my personal favorites from her newest album “Little Machines“, “Muscle Memory“. After a slow intro, she jumped from her piano and immediately began to dance for the rest of the song, along with the rest of the crowd. Lights’ voice is incredibly powerful live and her stage presence definitely gets everyone to dance and just have fun. She played a lot of her set non-stop, stopping every once in awhile to catch her breath and talk about some of the things she did while in town. Her set included songs spanning three of her albums, including “The Last Thing on Your Mind”, “Banner”, and “Running With The Boys”. It was great to hear songs spanning her whole career because each album has been so different from the last and just shows how dynamic Lights’ music really is. Lights also included a cover of “Love Fool” by The Cardigans, which was just incredibly nostalgic and fun. After a fun-filled set, she did an encore of her hit song from “Little Machines“, “Up We Go“, and slower song from the album as well called “Oil and Water”. Lights honestly was such a blast to see live and I felt a little more positive leaving the show. I absolutely will be seeing her live again and in the meantime will be jamming to her new (Juno Award Winning!) album “Little Machines“.