Local Natives at the Troubadour 6/4/10

Welcome home boys. Local Natives play a sold-out show at the Troubadour. (Photo courtesy of LARecord.com)

The ethereal icon of two palm trees crossing at the nape could only indicate one thing to the five boys of Local Natives. After a whirlwind cross-country tour that had taken them from Indio Valley to Iowa City, the Silverlake-based band trekked back to Southern California following their stomachs to the nearest In-N-Out Burger. Is there really any better way to celebrate a homecoming?

“It feels incredible to be here,” said Kelcey Ayer to a tightly-teemed audience Friday night, sporting scruff from the long road behind him. This was the first of the band’s two sold-out LA shows as they closed out their North American tour before heading to Europe for festival season.

Drummer Matt Frazier at work. (Check our more fantastic photos by LARecord's Ward Robinson at larecord.com/photos/2010/06/07/local-natives-the-troubadour/.)

The rising indie quintet seemed at ease on stage at the Troubadour. Playing to a roomful of steadfast fans, longtime friends and family, Local Natives performed a homecoming show which proved that after being on the road non-stop for the better part of the year, there is nothing like the comforts of home.

Opening the set with the percussive-heavy “Camera Talk,” and “World News,” the band mates immediately struck the house with their three-part harmonies, sublime melodies and afro-pop percussions. Elated concert-goers accompanied the soaring vocals of dueling frontmen Taylor Rice and Ayer and tapped toes to drummer Matt Frazier’s frenetic beats, as the band carried the crowd through the anthem-like overtures and shouting choruses of Gorilla Manor. Midway through the night, the band played an especially emotive version of their reverie “Cubism Dream,” slowing down the tempo and highlighting strength of their songwriting.

Returning to the stage for an encore, they wailed through an epic rendering of “Who Knows, Who Cares,” adding a dash of soul by replacing the album version’s strings with the horns of guest trumpeter Pan (from Suckers). Rife with frenzy, Local Natives closed out the show with the impassioned, tribal-esque “Sun Hands.” Calling out openers The Union Line and Suckers to the stage, the boys caroused in the tours’ final hurrah, fueling the intensity of the Troubadour with a palpable energy that left the audience on a high.

Through the smoke and lights, the hometown heroes stood proudly, humbled by the unending cheers and unfazed by their sudden celebrity. “We’ll be back in September,” said Rice, smiling through a ‘stache that would intimidate even Darryl Oates. “Well, I mean, we live here.”

Set List

Camera Talk

World News

Warning Sign

Cards and Quarters

Wide Eyes

Shape Shifter

Cubism Dream

Stranger Things

Airplanes

-Encore-