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Biography
Lord Huron are simultaneously a band out of time, and a band absolutely of this time. Their brand of rustic, atmospheric Americana is absolutely illustrative of this, as it is classic sounding music that, by now anyway, sounds absolutely natural playing alongside Lorde and their touring partners Alt-J on alternative radio stations. However, this is also a band named after a lake that Ben Schneider, the main songwriter and leader of the band, grew up visiting. He learnt to play music while sat on its banks, a campfire burning gently next to him. That’s undeniably an image that could come from a Huckleberry Finn novel, but on the other hand, at what other time period other than now could you take a band and make an entire Alternate Reality Game to compliment the music?
That’s where the thrillingly modern aspect of the band comes in, and the truly astonishing thing is that it’s, by and large, all come from the mind of Schneider and very few others. Born in Michigan, Schneider’s childhood was colonised by music and art, but as he grew older music became more and more of a hobby. He studied visual arts at the University of Michigan and once his course was over, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in visual arts. It didn’t go quite according to plan, and he ended up as the art director of a small Los Angeles advertising agency, developing ad campaigns for pizza restaurants and an online poker tournament.
However, his creative side was well and truly revitalised with the discovery of Alternate Reality Games, or ARG’s. These are interactive stories told through a number of different mediums where players have to piece the story together through interaction with other players. ARG’s have been put together by everyone from Nine Inch Nails to Steven Spielberg, and Schneider decided to try his hand at a couple of his own. These also didn’t quite go according to plan but with the scale involved, including hiring actors, designing websites, making a small museum exhibition among many others, that’s entirely understandable.
In 2010, he took a week off from the hustle and bustle of L.A to return to Lake Huron, and it was on those same banks that he learnt to play guitar on, that he recorded three songs that he’d been working on over the past several months. Those three songs would later comprise the entirety of the “Into The Sun” E.P, which he released onto the internet by June and dispersed some CD copies of the E.P into the merch stalls of some California music festivals, one of which fell into the hands of the San Francisco based music blogger Yours Truly. With the blog’s promotion the songs started to get a lot of people’s attention, and in November, Scheider put out his second E.P, “Mighty”.
As the attention around the Lord Huron project grew, Schneider decided to combine what he knew about ARG’s with his growing reputation as a musician. However, soon he was faced with a far more traditional problem for a solo artist. His newfound fans wanted him to go on tour, and he didn’t have a band. He called the only musicians he knew, some childhood friends of his who’d formed a band called Okemos, and went out on their first set of tour dates soon afterwards. Soon afterwards, he made his first music video for the band’s song “The Stranger” and released it in January 2011, the enigmatic effort alluding to a lot of what would later become the bands fictional backstory.
The band continued touring and performing for the rest of 2011, building up a strong reputation as a quality live act and by January 2012, they had signed to IAMSOUND Records. Their debut album “Lonesome Dreams” was released in the same year, and ever since then, the band have been one of the most genuinely fascinating acts in modern rock. The music stands up on its own merits but it’s the trappings around it that are truly astonishing, a silencing answer to the criticism that, in today’s internet based only music culture, we’ve lost touch with the mystique of rock and roll. They’re a band that could never have really existed until now, and they’re genuinely pushing the boundaries of what a rock and roll band is capable of. For that, they come highly recommended.
Live reviews
Religious associations aside, Lord Huron concerts are sacred experiences. The five-piece indie folk band manages to create an otherworldly sound complete with bells, theremins, marimbas, and other instruments uncommon to the typical music of their genre while remaining relatively unassuming and pure.
Having been named for the expansive body of water, Lord Huron’s music clearly draws from elements of nature and its sense of endlessness. The sound is atmospheric and full enough to carry across amphitheaters should the band find that level of success, but Lord Huron has a history of playing smaller and more intimate venues that are then completely immersed in the intensity of the performance. The movement and spirituality of Lord Huron’s songs are felt through the entire audience. For me, their shows evoke fond memories of nights spent under the stars, and I truly believe anyone can find in them some degree of sentimental value.
Lead vocalist Ben Schneider’s voice is hauntingly beautiful in songs like “The Ghost On The Shore” without overpowering the rich instrumentation he narrates, but the harmonious vocals of “She Lit A Fire” create a modern adaptation of classic American Folk music.
It’s difficult to describe a Lord Huron show without including pretentious phrases like “moves your soul” or “out-of-body experience,” but those witness it will find there are few better words.
eden.arbogast
Underwhelming and Generic.
Probably the most disappointing performance that I’ve seen in years. The band, who chose to remain nameless throughout the show, treated the audience in an equally disinterested manner. Yes, any band can say, “It’s great to be here in _______”; but a cliche is better than nothing. Really good performers make that interaction unique (e.g. John Flansburg’s comments during They Might Be Giants’ performance on Friday night or come to think of it, just about any band you hear at a local bar). Also, really good musicians usually use live performances to showcase their abilities with their instruments; but except for a very brief drum show at the end of the normal set and perhaps the unnamed guy who played the Theremin, none of the performers broke script and gave us something we don’t already have on the albums.
The canned nature of the performance was so profound that by the final song I was beginning to wonder if L.H. was pulling an E.L.O. on the audience. Did anyone else think that Ben's strikes on the drum during the final song were just a bit off from the actual rhythm?
To be clear, I still like their music; but unless they up their game considerably, you should just skip the show and listen to their albums at home.
PJ-D
Lord Huron, religious connotations aside clearly has a devoted following. Since their self released debut in 2010, the reputation of the quartet has grown dramatically. With their music often reaching on themes surrounding nature, water and earth, the show is expectedly organic.
The band takes to stage clutching a variety of unusual instruments yet it is their guitars that act as the spine to the show maintaining the beat throughout. They create the expansive sound expertly despite only having four musicians onstage. There is a chill in the air during a somber rendition of 'The Ghost on the Shore' as the band harmonise ominously whilst the audience look on in awe.
Despite commerciality having escaped the band, the devoted manner in which the crowds continue to attend the tours is clearly appreciated by the group. Ben Schneider explains it is due to their dedication that they are able to continue making music before a tender rendition of 'Time to Run'. The Londoners cheer to bring the boys back to stage for a final spine chilling performance of 'The Stranger' and as they take the final bows, you feel the sense of contentment by both audience and band.
sean-ward
I frequent a lot of different shows with a wide range in genre, so I am not truly surprised by too many acts these days. This was my first time seeing Lord Huron live, and I have to admit, their show blew away my expectations.
Lord Huron brought lots of passion and energy and played the perfect mixture of old and new material. Even their stage setup was unique with a large LED "Strange Trails" sign that made it feel like a production. They engaged with the crowd and you could definitely tell they were enjoying every minute of being up there. Seeing this all at the Union Transfer provided and ideal venue with arguably the best acoustics in the city. Overall a fantastic show, one that I will not be missing when they come back to town.
nathan-butterbaugh
It was an awesome show, they clearly cared about the sound quality so much so that after they arrived on stage and played two or three songs they left in order for some technical thing to be worked out, which was disruptive to the groove of things, but when they came back out they apologized and everything went really well. They were all adorable too, they looked like they were having a ball, they kept running together to play their instruments at each other, it was hilarious and endearing. Also, a great blend of the old and new stuff, kept it interesting. They cared about the audience experience while having fun and it made me enjoy it more than the past few shows I've been too. A+
Al-o
Upgraded the venue instead of playing to a packed audience. We were able to relax in comfortable seating and I am thankful for that. Additinally they sent is a full album which is a veteran and classy indication of how well they consider us. The band was polite and enthusiastic, good and fun. I liked every single one of their songs and loved the ones I already knew. Their opening act was Liz Cooper and the Stampede and they rocked, classily then accelerating into a climax of twin guitars and well timed percussion.
I will recommend Lord Huron to anyone who asks and try to describe our great 2 year anniversary date celebration experience.
Charaner
The show got off to a bad start when those of us with Songkick tickets ended up in a 45 minute line to have the unscannable tickets replaced with bits of paper stamped with show details - part of the Ticketmaster dividend no doubt.
Support Flyte were pretty ordinary.
Happily Lord Huron lived up to there headline billing and rocked out the Empire with plenty of fan favourites interspersed with a few new songs from the upcoming third album.
The 6 piece band were excellent. Could have used a bit less distortion on the vocals, but that didn't stop the crowd singing along. Good night overall. Lord Huron are well worth the money.
rpn10
I didn't much care for the venue, Sokol Auditorium. The group was in great form a lot of energy and sounded as good live as they do in the studio. I will certainly attend any concerts they have in the area. The audience was very enthusiastic ( rightly so !) I have recommended to my daughter that she attend one of the upcoming shows in Denver . I attended the show alone and was a little wary being in a General Admission audience following fairly recent major back surgery, not a problem though people were extremely courteous. I hope they might consider The Rococo Theatre in Lincoln for their future shows in Nebraska .
SallyCFisher
Hi guys, if you ever have the chance to see this amazing band on stage, don't miss.
It's so great. 3 guitars, a bass and a lot of strange instruments make every concert to a real party for music maniacs. The audience was mixed. Means there were teenage girls and boys and
older guys as well.
There were played some new songs, so i can't wait to hear them on spotify.
The support of the newcomer band Flyte
was excellent. Hope to hear more from this guys.
And for the next tour: why not some dates in germany? We really would appreciate this.
gesine24
Absolutely astonishing! These guys are so on top of it and their performance was spectacular. I can't say anything bad, the night was just about perfect. The venue was real nice and the sound was truly great. I do not understand why these guys do not have bigger venues to play. They were in the Bay Area for four nights in two different venues and each show was sold out.
All I can say is keep up the beautiful songwriting and don't stop touring.
Gilkfrog
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