Written By Chloe Diehl
Credit: Photographs Taken by Alan Davis
This past weekend, I got the opportunity to witness Rainbow Kitten Surprise’s concert at White Oak Music Hall. Before the main act, the opening band kept putting emphasis on the fact that “Rainbow Kitten Surprise” was a band everyone must see at least once in their lives. After seeing them play live, I understood why.
Photos by Alan Davis
The opener for this show was a group called “Common People”. In my opinion, this group was your regular vanilla indie rock band, almost reminiscent of something you would see from Disney Channel’s Camp Rock. I loved the lead singer’s energy, and he was great about getting the crowd to jump at the beginning of the show. However, the crowd quickly dissipated as his energy was not matched by the rest of his group. The rest of the band members were quite stiff with minimal to no movement, while the lead singer was prancing around the stage. This ultimately caused an awkward imbalance in the vibe. I was slightly underwhelmed, nervous that the opener would be similar to the main set. Luckily, my assumption was wrong.
At the start of the main show, the band's entry made the lead singer, Ela Melo, feel like a mystique. Her fierce confidence and elegance made me focus only on her. She had an absolutely magnetic personality on stage. Despite her siren-like characteristics, she was comfortable making jokes with the crowd. She even belted out a loud holler with the crowd to “match our chaotic energy”. Melo was truly dynamic, keeping her cool aura while connecting with the fans.
Photos by Alan Davis
Aside from the showmanship of Melo, the band’s overall musicianship was a force to be reckoned with. The clean, silent cuts in between the upbeat choruses felt resonant. What made it even more powerful was the vibrant lighting in the backdrop that matched every beat of the bass drum. This was especially seen when playing Cocaine Jesus.
While a good portion of the set was mostly upbeat rock songs, the band switched to an acoustic ensemble three-fourths of the way through. This long-standing band played songs they wrote ten years ago while living in the mountains of North Carolina. One of the songs during their acoustic portion of the show was their iconic "All That and More (Sailboat)". I loved the riffs from the banjo blended with the gentle guitar chords with a little blues scale at the end of the song. It was truly a treat to switch from the upbeat rock to something more calming, especially with after being surrounded by their hyper fans amidst the crowd.
Though Rainbow Kitten Surprise is not the typical band I gravitate towards, I truly appreciated them more when I saw them live. I also can understand why this band is a must-see. The band has very much refined the band’s overall sound, and has been sharpening its chops when it comes to playing live.