Erin Rae gently warmed the crowd up with an intimate set, bringing a handful of known and new songs for the growing audience at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theater to enjoy.
A rocky desert scene, peppered with cactus, was unveiled on the stage as the crowd awaited LA-based band, Lord Huron’s, entrance. A warm welcome soon billowed from the crowd as the lights changed, marking Ben, Miguel, Tom & Barry’s entrance from the far left corner of the stage, along with the incredibly talented Brandon Walters and Misty Boyce.
Following an anticipation-building opening song (“The Moon Doesn’t Mind”) a perfect balance of depth and energy filled the amphitheater stage and crowd with “Mine Forever” and “Meet Me in the Woods”. It was a pleasure to see Ben truly losing himself in the music as he flowed around the stage—he apologized to the crowd for losing himself at one point, but it was amazing to watch, and the crowd were whole-heartedly there for every beat of it.
As the East Bay fog rolled in and Wednesday evening cooled off, the amphitheater was packed with passionate fans soaking up a beautiful balance of upbeat and slower songs as Ben, Tom and Brandon strummed through a wealth of guitars as the set unfolded (and Miguel bounced between his electric bass and a double bass!) “She Lit a Fire” and “When the Night is Over” had everyone moving, before Ben briefly exited the stage in prep for “The World Ender”. His reappearance, in an eerily realistic skull mask, was perfectly timed with the flooding of rich red and orange lights filling the stage.
Ben slowed things down to serenade the crowd, inviting Misty Boyce to join him at center stage for “I Lied”. Their duet, and Misty’s solo, captured the hearts and ears of the crowd—Ben referred to her as “Misty Boyce, with the beautiful voice” as she made her way back to the piano.
“The Night We Met” closed out the evening’s encore, along with the much anticipated “Ends of the Earth”. We were all ready for an energy-filled set and Lord Huron delivered.