“Dream Pop” is not a term that you get to use everyday. For me, the term began to take shape in the form of a beautiful stage setting, complete with subtle strands of lights laid across the stage floor at The Fillmore Silver Spring when the well loved band, Warpaint took the stage.
Beforehand however, the LA based Warpaint played host to New Zealand’s Liam Finn, the second opener of the night. Liam performed his experimental psych-rock for an enthusiastic crowd and led his band with tight rhythms, wild guitar fills, and sudden bursts of energy with his unexpected solos. The vocal harmonies were the big surprise of the night and could not have worked better with any other arrangements.
If you are not familiar with Liam Finn, he is the former frontman of the New Zealand band Betchadupa as well as the son of famed recording artist Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowed House. Despite the completely different approaches to writing and performing music, both Liam and Neil Finn are both geniuses.
Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to photograph the night’s first opening act, the DC based Shark Week, but I did get to hear most of their set. I’ve seen Shark Week several times and they truly have never sounded better and they never stop amazing me—always playing stronger and tighter than the last show. The DC four piece blazed through their set with more tightness and punch then I have ever heard prior.
LIAM FINN
WARPAINT
