Review and Photos By Mike Gerry
Other Lives, from Stillwater, Oklahoma, and now residing in Portland, Oregon, came to Atlanta behind their third full length album, and one of the best of the year in 2015’s Rituals.
To put it in a just a few words, Other Lives is one of the best bands around these days. With lush, layered songs, it’s hard not to get lost in their music. It’s a talent only so many bands can accomplish to this level.
Live, well, just takes these songs up another notch. With three main members, Jesse Tabish (piano, guitar, lead vocals), Jonathon Mooney (piano, violin, guitar, percussion, trumpet), and Josh Onstott (bass, keys, percussion, guitar, backing vocals), and five total for the live show, Other Lives are able to recreate their huge sound, switching instruments during songs, huge drums, and a loud full sound. The back up vocals are haunting. On record Other Lives has that chill, ethereal sound, but live it’s so loud and full that they could fill up large stadiums, having the whole crowd sway to their music, hanging on every word.
And that’s what the crowd got in one of Atlanta’s best small venues, The EARL. The crowd was completely enamored by this band, and for good reason. This is a band that stands on their own with the music they are creating. They have their own thing going on, creating a classical sound.
Playing a mix of older fan favorites and songs from the new album, the first single from Rituals, ‘Reconfiguration’ is the perfect introduction to their sound. The stand outs from the set list is hard to nail down just a few, but songs like ‘Tamer Animals, ‘For 12’ from 2011’s self titled album stand out. The new songs were brilliant in their own right with ‘English Summer’ being a highlight. And then when they put their own spin on Nirvana’s ‘Something In The Way’, a perfect ode to one of our generation’s greats that fit perfectly into their set list, the crowd knew this band was special.
On this Saturday night in Atlanta, Other Lives took us to another place where it was just the crowd and the band, nothing else. It was a moment. Experience this live for yourself on their current tour (dates below).
Watch a few clips from Other Lives’ show at The EARL:
Tour Dates:
Jun 16 The Crescent Ballroom Phoenix, AZ
Jun 18 Ogden Amphitheater Ogden, UT
Jun 26 Glastonbury Festival Pilton-Somerset, United Kingdom
Jun 27 Rock Werchter Festival Rotselaar, Belgium
Jun 28 Down The Rabbit Hole Festival Beuningen, Netherlands
Jun 30 Grand Mix Tourcoing, France
Jul 02 Bikini Barcelona, Spain
Jul 03 Moby Dick Madrid, Spain
Jul 04 Festival do Norte Pontevedra, Spain
Jul 05 Festival do Norte Pontevedra, Spain
Jul 06 Days Off Festival Paris, France
Jul 08 Muziekgieterij Maastricht, Netherlands
Jul 09 Molotow Backyard Hamburg, Germany
Jul 10 Phono Pop Festival Russelsheim, Germany
Jul 13 Universum Stuttgart, Germany
Jul 15 Marina di Ravenna@Hana Bi Outdoor Ravenna, Italy
Jul 16 Les Georges Festival Fribourg, Switzerland
Jul 17 Storm Munich, Germany
Jul 18 WuK Vienna, Austria
Jul 19 Colours of Ostrava Festival Ostrava, Czech Republic
Aug 15 Annenberg Space for Photography Los Angeles, CA
