Sylvan Esso made their return to Boston on Saturday night, the first of a two-night stand, playing to a sold-out crowd of 2,200 dancing attendees at House of Blues. House of Blues, had a long line to get into the blue double doors which passed by a street meat/pretzel stand. Someone walked by and asked who was playing and I said “Sylvan Esso,” which didn’t register. Someone behind me attempted to clarify with “it’s indie,” but that didn’t seem to help them understand.
What is Sylvan Esso? SE is made up of Cambridge’s own Amelia Meath, who relocated to North Carolina about ten years ago, and DJ/producer Nick Sanford. Meath met Sanford to work on an electronica remix with her New England-based band, Mountain Man, and the unlikely collaboration produced Sylvan Esso. What I can tell you, for the unacquainted, is that Sylvan Esso play a unique brew of hooky EDM-charged pop delivered with a soft Americana voice and visceral beats.
The beats were in full force on Saturday after an engaging and impressive performance from opener Lido Pimienta. Pimienta, from Colombia, promoted a sex-positive message that meshed with the evening’s Planned Parenthood/free contraceptive presence in the lobby. The banter focused heavily on the current fight for pro-choice legislation in this country, which was delivered in a ruthlessly satiric manner.
During the break, the stage tech lit a stick of nag champa that rested on Sylvan Esso’s Juno-6 keyboard. The thin wisp of scented smoke was joined by cascades of fog as the band entered to anticipatory synths. The first song, “What If”, warmed up the crowd as Meath beckoned from beneath a purple tissue-feather coat, followed by “Ferris Wheel,” which kicked things into the next gear and cued the dancing, and then “Train,” which kept the vibe on track. The opening trio more-or-less mirrored the opening of SE’s 2020 album Free Love.
The stage setup was sparse but effective. The bright flickering checkered lights in the background matched Sanford’s flannel pajama pants. A reflective moment emerged when Meath sang while shielding herself with a mirror that she then slowly spread across the darkened crowd like a Bat Signal during “Free.” The song offered a relative pause in an otherwise movement-filled set, as Meath incorporated everything from ballet to burlesque, moving around the stage and coaxing the audience into their world as Sanford bobbed his head, thrusting elbows while adjusting knobs on thresholds, and grooving to the beat as he remained tethered to his rig. We clapped our hands during “PARAD(w/m)E,” raised phone-flashlights during “Uncatena,” and chorused with Meath on perennial favorites “Die Young,” “Hey Mami,” and “Coffee,” which were sprinkled through the set like so many nonpareils. The audience rolled with the ebbs and flows of the set list, participating willingly, prompted by Meath’s trust, charm, and genuine joy.
Meath, who said it felt very good to be back in her hometown, observed that she went to her old ‘zine store and cried during the day, and recalled coming to this venue when it was the Avalon. The whole set felt important, and the duo held nothing back. A curious moment came during the finale when the elbow-thrusting, mask-clad man behind the decks missed the drop on “Play it Right” and Meath stopped the song abruptly and gestured in a way that suggested Sanford should indeed play [the song] right. He obliged, started again, and we all celebrated when at the opportune moment Mr. Sanford correctly delivered the loop.
After the encore finished with “Make It Easy,” we eased our way onto the raucous Landsdowne Street. Weaving my around drunk co-eds, it occurred to me how much more the powerful dynamism of Sylvan Esso struck me compared to their recordings, or maybe it’s just the speaker system at House of Blues with its sub-woofers compared to my inadequate iPhone. It was also refreshing that they didn’t just play through the most recent album; instead, they summed up their collective output with considered pacing, dropping their hits here-and-there throughout a decidedly deep set. Sylvan Esso are ones to catch next time around.
