Marian Hill turns up the heat at Boot and Saddle

Nothing brightens up a dreary day like a nice surprise. So, thank you Marian Hill for surprising the hell out of me. I listened to your EP online and I dug the sound. I love the minimal electro vibe, and the silky smooth, often soulfully sweet vocals. I was pretty excited for the show at Boot And Saddle, and was hopeful that the sound would transfer well over to a live set. I wanted to thank you for blowing those expectations out of the water.

When Samantha Gongol, Jeremy Lloyd (the primary duo) and Steve Davit hit the stage, I prepared myself for the worst. I had missed them at the XPoNential festival earlier in the year, and was kinda freaking out that it may be one of those bands that is easily manipulated in the studio to sound like gold, but unable to bring the heat to the masses. I was very wrong, and for that I am also thankful. They sound even better on the stage. The smooth sensuality of their music becomes almost overtly sexual up in the spotlight.

Kicking things off with the sax-laden “One Time” and spending most of the evening on their glorious, but small, catalogue of published works, plus a few new tunes, they made quick work of any lack of sexual tension in the room and got rowdy. After the song “Lips” ended, Samantha even seemed a little taken aback by how lost she became in their music, and let out a slight “whoa” in the mic with a bashful smile.

Opener Dewey Decibel was completely unexpected, both by myself and most of the crowd. I was not expecting a rapper as the opener, nor was I expecting one quite so adept at wordplay. With an obvious love of keeping the rhymes fresh and the references local, there were definitely some hooks bouncing around in my head after he left the stage.