Band of Horses were back at The Enmore last Tuesday touring their new album Mirage Rock.
They are a punctual bunch and were already into the first song when we arrived just after the 9.30pm start time.
The band brings a great vibe to the stage and none of the members are afraid to show they’re having a good time – especially keyboardist Ryan Monroe whose enthusiasm is infectious.
While the new album seems a little middle of the road and over-produced and was a bit of a letdown for many big fans of their first two albums, the songs come into their own played live.
The older songs are still the standouts though. The towering “Is There a Ghost” brought all three guitarists to the front of the stage as though launching a full frontal assault on the audience.
This was followed by a huge mid-concert crescendo of “Weed Party”, “The Great Salt Lake” and then “Knock, Knock” (which stands up surprisingly well live against these old favourites).
Band of Horses bring a Ramones-style pace to the gig, despite their constant guitar changes, with each song seemingly starting just before the previous song finishes.
Lead singer Ben Bridwell’s voice though is what lifts these alt country tunes to a higher level.
The acoustic version of “No-one’s Gonna Love You” as the encore shows why – his voice filled the theatre and you forgot you’d been listening to him all night. In that moment it was like you were meeting him again for the very first time.
