by Brittney Corridean
Melbourne based duet Oh Pep!, comprised of Olivia Hally and Pepita Emmerichs, performed alongside Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and Lord Huron at the Fillmore Philadelphia on Monday night. The show has been sold old for a couple months, so there was no surprise that the place was jammed packed from door to stage.
Even though they were the first band to perform, many of the concert goers didn’t want to miss Oh Pep!’s performance. The show started at 8pm, and as I arrived just a few minutes late, it was incredibly hard to find a good spot. Luckily this crowd was one of the nicest I’ve encountered. Someone actually told me when I dropped money, and several times as I bumped into people, they apologized for me hitting them!
Hally and Emmerichs were dressed in an indie-fold style with denim and earth colors alike. What really caught my attention during their performance was how perfectly they harmonized each song. They have light voices, but Emmerichs has an almost like a grungy tint; it almost reminded me of one of my throw-back faves, Aimee Mann.
Oh Pep!’s new album will be released on June 24th, and songs covered in the show were “The Race”, “Tea, Milk & Honey” and towards the end they proclaimed “this one is a little different, “ as they went in to “Only Everyone”. They didn’t need to take up much space on the stage, however, their presence was still booming.
Even though I was only slightly familiar with Oh Pep! before the show, I must say they have a nice, soothing sound to them with a bit of an edge. I have become a new fan. I found myself checking out the concert tchotchke and looking up other songs during the break. One of my favorite lyrics I heard was “she moved like her body’s got fire in it.” Grant it, that may not be 100% accurate being the place was roaring, but it was enough to give me goose bumps and haunt me enough to write about.
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats came on very quickly after Oh Pep!. I actually had to think for a second that it wasn’t coming from the DJ, but the band took the stage. That being said, they’re definitely not a studio band and sound exceptional as a live act. The energy literally dripped from their sweat (ironic) and my favorite of the night was Andre on the sax with his all white suit, leather vest, Jeff-cap and sunglasses. He moved like it was the last night at the disco and the audience loved it.
There is no surprise these guys have an enormous, contagious amount of energy that had everyone grooving from start to finish. They opened with “Need Never Get Old” and played other favorites such as “Shake” with some added percussion so it was a little more upbeat than what we hear on the radio.
As they performed, they only got more excited and everyone was in good spirits, especially when “S.O.B.” came on. Rateliff was dressed in all black with his signature hat and the only color I could see was the red handkerchief he used to wipe his drenched forehead.
In closing, he stated how they’ve been coming to Philly for eight years now and absolutely love their fans here. To quote, “I’m not just kissing your ass, because I can’t,” he went on to introduce members of the largely assembled band and ended with “Vote for fucking Bernie Sanders!”
There wasn’t too much of a wait before Lord Huron came on either. Their stage was set up with red and pale blue lights that went back and forth with “Strange Trails” in writing with a skull in the middle. They were a bit more edgy than I expected, but it was a nice surprise. Also, just an FYI to art fans- check out their album covers and T-shirts. They were more than rad.
Lord Huron opened up with older songs such as “Time to Run” and “Fool for Love” and then went into their newer songs off of their album Strange Trails. They were a ton of fun to watch and the crowd was pleased to sing along almost the entire time. It was a fun, enthusiastic show from all three bands and kind of left us all floating out the door.
Sad to say it’s over.
