On April 19th at Fox Theater Pomona, it was difficult to tell who was happier at the Local Natives concert: the fans or the band. On one hand, the harmony-loving patrons were lucky enough to see the talented quintet up close and personal in a concert hall that only holds roughly 2,000 fans. The Los Angeles based band’s last show in their hometown took place at the Greek Theatre in 2016, which seats 6,000. On the other hand, this show marked the last show in Local Natives’ Sunlit Youth Tour. Although the band does have additional festival gigs and will be opening up for Portugal. The Man at venues like Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, the show at Fox was their last headlining concert. As vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Kelcey Ayer said on stage, the show felt like they were home.
Local Natives played a full 19 song set, opening with a track off of their newest album, Sunlit Youth. They quickly went back to their 2010 days by following up with Wide Eyes, a fan-favorite from their debut album, Gorilla Manor. In the middle of the set, to no surprise, vocalist and guitarist Taylor Rice introduced their new song that was released on March 23, 2017, I Saw You Close Your Eyes. It is an upbeat song with horns in the background, something they have never experimented with before.
A highlight of the show was the song Dark Days, also off of Sunlit Youth. On the album, the track features Nina Persson of The Cardigans as a vocalist. Throughout the tour, when Nina Persson was present, she came out to sing her part, as she did at the Greek Theater last year. At other performances when she was not there, Local Natives brought out special guests to sing the part, often Charlotte Day Wilson, who opened for the band for many shows. This time, Kelsey announced that Local Natives’ guitarist Ryan Hahn would take on the vocals for the song. At first Hahn thought he was kidding, but as the band started leading up to the verse, he realized he had no option but to sing, which he did very well. It was great to see the band joking around on stage.
Had one not seen the set list, they would have thought the band’s encore was impromptu. They said their sincere goodbyes, rocked Who Knows Who Cares as their final song, and exited stage. Still, the fans did not leave. Local Natives returned and the set ended with Sun Hands and, appropriately, with the entire crowd’s arms up in the air as they held up the crowd-surfing Taylor Rice.
It is hopeful that the group has been releasing new songs during this tour: a sign that their creativity has only begun. We can’t wait to see what Local Natives has in store for us in the future.
