Jaws of Love
I don’t know where to begin….I’m still in awe of what I experienced last night. Kelcey Ayer of Local Natives has a solo project called Jaws of Love and the album out is Tasha Sits Close to the Piano and it is phenomenal!!
The venue is World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, PA and they have two different stages. This performance was in their more intimate setting upstairs. They had bar seating, then tables all around and I was seated right up front! It’s the first time in a long I didn’t have to worry about someone blocking my view. I’m barely 5’2” and I kid you not, every time some 6 foot or taller guy squeezes his way in front of me and just parks himself there. Never fails! It’s infuriating! It wouldn’t be so bad if they took one step to the side, either side, so I can see. Nope, directly in front of me. So this was nice, to sit and be able to see!
Opening for Jaws of Love was Mark Nieto who performs as COMBAT. He’s an experimental/electronic musician who puts together random sounds and beats that comes out as this entirely unique song and it’s amazing! Watching him perform, you can just tell his passion for what he does.
Mark Nieto/COMBAT
The moment we all have been waiting for, Kelcery Ayer takes the stage and you can just feel the change in focus of the room. Everyone was completely silent and eyes locked on the stage. He began with Hawaiian License Plates and not only is the song beautiful because of its lyrics, but it also displays Kelcey’s soft vibrato that just makes you swoon!!! The point where my heart felt so full was when I heard him sing Lake Tahoe. Do yourself a favor and listen to that song! Open up Spotify and get to about 1 minute and 25 seconds and go from there. Just really listen to his vocals, the variety in range and just how beautifully it is sung! I literally was holding back tears at this point! Definitely listen to the whole song, but that particular point just gave me all the feels!! I loved every moment of the show last night and I wish I had the time to experience it all over again!! I already had high expectations of the show, considering Kelcey is one of the singers of one of my all time favorite bands, but he definitely exceeded those expectations!! Another favorite moment is when he sang Columbia acoustically on the piano and had everyone just get up close to hear him. Another moment I almost lost control of my emotions.
Mark Nieto and Kelcey Ayer
Kelcey Ayer
There are times I miss my hometown of Tulsa, OK, but moments like last night make me thankful I live on the east coast otherwise I would have missed this performance! Plus I would have never gotten to meet Kelcey! The 5 times I’ve seen Local Natives, I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now I just need to meet the rest of the band! Lol!
(Top) Kelcey Ayer and myself
(Bottom) Mark Nieto and myself
My new blog about Kelcey Ayer’s new solo project Jaws of Love
