Great Northern embraces an enormous new sound in Los Angeles

May 23, 2009, at the Echoplex

By Melissa Bobbitt
Published: May 27th, 2009 | 12:20am

The last time I had seen Great Northern perform, it was a daytime acoustic set at South by Southwest — just Rachel Stolte and Solon Bixler plunking out their chilled tunes for the lunch bunch. The time before was at Spaceland in Silver Lake, California, shortly after the release of their debut album, Trading Twilight for Daylight (Eenie Meenie). Back then, Stolte had short red tresses and a bit of a shrinking violet presence on stage.

Times have changed, and so has Great Northern. Stolte is now a luminous brunette and confident front woman, and the band as a whole has evolved immensely, as evidenced by their most recent release, Remind Me Where the Light Is (Eenie Meenie). The ethereal pop still reigns supreme, but the infusing of triumphant stomping and Arcade Fire theatrics has elevated these Angelenos to a whole new plane, especially live.

Kicking things off on the triple bill — which also included Montreal’s the Dears, whom I didn’t stick around for — were more Angel City sons, Eulogies. Plaintive rock with deceivingly cheery bass licks (dished out by the even cheerier Garrett Deloian) was their forte. As was facial hair and bucolic portraits of Americana that rotated on the kick drum. On the strength of their own compelling material, Eulogies served as a nice segue into their local brethren’s set.

Accompanied by drummer Dusty Rocherolle (who would launch his sticks in the air like a perky marching band baton twirler), multi-instrumentalist Marissa Micik (stoic yet enchanting) and bassist Michael Francis Regilio (adept at chewing gum and playing simultaneously!), Great Northern charged out of the starting gate with the sweeping “Story.” The next three Light tracks followed, awash with heavenly feedback, which seemed to greatly delight one gesticulating fan in the front row.

Pleased to be playing for her hometown, a grateful Stolte told the crowd, “We got to sleep in our own beds last night and pet our cats.” That prompted a lovely, stark version of their hit “Home,” which morphed into a forceful anthem. The singer was like a mesmerizing panther, and the stage was her hearth around which to prowl. The mournful “New Tricks” brought her fluidly to her knees, and the climbing burn of “Warning” found her stalking behind Bixler with a knowing glance. The impressive set climaxed with the swell of “Mountain,” as the musicians hammered at their stations with unbridled abandon. The pretty, polite days of Great Northern are spent. Let us hail the awesome monster of indie rock they’ve transformed into.
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For more photos from this show visit Venus Zine’s Flickr page
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Review of Great Northern’s Remind Me Where The Light Is (Eenie Meenie)
Review of Great Northern’s Trading Twilight For Daylight (Eenie Meenie)