Photos and words by Samantha Skapin

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of checking out Local Natives during their stop in Cleveland at The Agora Theatre for their Sunlit Youth tour. They had an incredible band, Little Scream opening for them as well.

Little Scream started off the show to a packed theatre. I hadn’t listened to these guys before, but after seeing their set, I had to check them out on Spotify because they were THAT good. The Montreal based band has such a unique sound to them, having two female vocalists mixed with some funky instrumental you can’t help but dance to. Laurel Sprengelmeyer has such a unique and haunting voice that is incredibly dynamic to the band’s sound. They played a great set, which included their most popular song, “Love As A Weapon” off of the 2016 release Cult Following, as well as their newest single “People”. Between these two songs, you could see the progression in their music and what’s to come with the new record. I’m so glad I caught these guys opening for Local Natives because they were an absolute pleasure to watch and a new band I can jam to all day. I would highly recommend checking out their latest single “People“, because I think you’re going to be hearing about Little Scream a lot more in the future.

Local Natives were up next and the room was filled with anticipation. These guys just released their third album Sunlit Youth this past September, which received incredible praise (and a lot of time blasting on repeat in my car). They opened with “Past Lives“, one of the singles off of the newest record, and I was instantly floored. These guys put on such a great show, filled with chilling harmonies and catchy guitar riffs you can’t help but be mesmerized by. Taylor Rice, Kelcey Ayer, and Ryan Hahn all have such wonderful vocal talent and all show how dynamic the band can be by switching off lead vocals on different songs during the set. They played quite a bit off of Sunlit Youth, as well as their newest single released last week, “I Saw You Close Your Eyes” (which is fantastic in case you were wondering), but were sure to include some songs off of their first release Gorilla Manor. They finished their set off with “Who Knows, Who Cares” off of Gorilla Manor, before going into their beast of an encore. The encore included “Masters” off of Sunlit Youth and ended the show with their hit “Sun Hands”. At this point, Taylor Rice had taken out his bun and head banging before jumping into the crowd to crowd surf for the buildup of the song. It goes without saying that the energy and love Local Natives put into this show and their beliefs in general is incredible (they even donated part of the ticket sales towards gender-based violence intervention and prevention programs which is SO RAD).  Overall, I would check out this tour again in a heartbeat if I could. Be sure to check out their newest album Sunlit Youth and check them out on the road if you can!