[usr 5.0]
Summer Salt sent waves of sonar love to the heart with their songs.
A seismic kaleidoscope of colours enveloped our hearts and souls on Friday night as American indie band Summer Salt gave us moments of summer incandescence and candy wrapper joy.
If I could describe the experience of their gig at Substation Theatre, it would be like a mix of a Reeseโs Peanut Butter Cup, a Mars bar and some gobstoppers with those chewy centres.
Taking to the stage for the first time in Singapore, with a cute Slowpoke plushie in tow, who watched over them throughout their show, the charming, super talented and down-to-earth members consisting of Matthew Terry, Eugene Chung, Anthony Barnett and Elliot Edmonds, dressed our souls in waves of colours that were reminiscent of summer days and friendships.
ยฉ Vanessa Mostafa
A playful and close-knit aura seemed to hover over the entire gig as soon as the evening started.
In fact, the magic of the evening began even before the main bandโs appearance.
Opening act Sobs gave us some love with their dashing vibes and favourites like โGirlโ, and whose exuberant frontwoman Celine, reminded me of Paramoreโs Hayley.
โWeโre all family here,โ said Terry of Summer Salt, pointing to both his fellow band members and the audience in front of him.
His heartwarming words reminded me of American rock band Maineโs ideology and their affection for their fans, especially post-gig.
Which this band does as well!
More on that later…
With songs that seemed to guide us like fireflies in the dark of the night, the mood of the evening was as eclectic as it was electric!
And truly magical…
Fans sang every song, some to every single word – the true fans those were! Like the ones behind me…
Read more: Japanese Breakfast reveals the connection between her tattoos and music, her dream place to perform and many more.
For me, discovering this band recently, falling head over heels in love with their songs and colours, then hearing them live, was the dream.
I never fathomed that it would be possible to have a band that sounds twice as good and twice as magical live, as they do on record. But Summer Salt just proved me wrong.
The moment that they broke into โHeart and My Carโ, I was bewitched. The iridescence of their vocals, particularly of Terryโs, was quite special. Iridescently radiant, in fact…
I likened it to the first breath of the first summer sunrise.
Percussion by Chung was truly on point! And as a whole, the dynamics of the band was just wonderful!
Favourites like โCandy Wrappersโ and โRevvinโ My Cj7โ had the entire (full house) crowd singing out loud to the chorus, while self-titled song โSummer Saltโ gave us as much 60s vibe on the original track as the live version. The vibes were lit and this new fanโs heart truly melted in the swirls of Summer Saltโs โSummer Saltโ!
Songs like โSpeaking Sonarโ, โSweet to Meโ and โLittle Chimmyโ were full of warm undulating textures, with the former feeling like an underwater (sonar) soundscape of reflected waves that cast a beautiful indigo.
I felt like a whale who understood the language and was bewitched again…
Indeed, throughout the gig, there were also moments of, what I would call โmagicalโ riffs and textures that appeared to have a life of their own.
For instance, the ones in โRockawayโ felt like a velvety coat of caramel on the palate…
Was this the Mars bar that I mentioned earlier? Perhaps so…
As the band coated our ears with even more sweet favourites like the fun and sweet-serenading โDriving to Hawaiiโ and the vibey โGoing Nativeโ, their 70-minute gig felt all too short, and it was clear that we all wanted more from this very special band.
ยฉ Vanessa Mostafa
They did not disappoint and returned barely a minute later with encore piece โGive My Heart a Little Breakโ.
Which was perfect…
The tones of this song inundated the atmosphere once again with colours from another era, warming our hearts and giving it a break from the mundane and trivial heartbreaks of life.
I basked in the summer (salt) sunlight with that โwarm feelingโ, not on my face but in my heart, of how perfect the โnightโ had been…
Further accentuating the beautiful night and encapsulating the experience as a whole was how the amicable members of the band stayed back for fans who wanted to meet them post-gig.
For close to an hour after their show, they took photos, gave hugs, signed stuff and happily obliged in video messages for every single person who stayed back.
And for those who asked for โposesโ for their photos, the lads even had some kind of endearing โart directionโ going on!
Now I call that effort! And love! Bless their hearts…
Said the band, โIt took us 16 hours to get here. Everyone here…you guys made worth it…โ
No. Thank you Summer Salt. It was you guys that made the night worth it…
5 out of 5 stars! Gosh, I love you – I would give you 6 if I could!
A must watch band if theyโre ever in your city!
Special thanks to Symmetry Entertainment for the invite!
Setlist:
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Heart and My Car
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Manastra
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Summer Salt
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Speaking Sonar
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Little Chimmy
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Time Away From Home
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Sweet to Me
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Life Ainโt the Same
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Rockaway
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Candy Wrappers
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Revvinโ My Cj7
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Swinging for the Fences
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Seventeen
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One Last Time
-
Driving to Hawaii
-
Going Native
-
Give My Heart a Little Break
