Review: Saint Motel Record Release Show

From KCRW’s Promotions Coordinator Mary Chellamy:

Sometimes you just have to let an EP breathe a bit before you unleash an official debut album. For Saint Motel fans that wait came to an end after the band released their debut album “Voyeur” this past week. To celebrate, AJ, Dak, Aaron and Greg hosted a party for all their friends at the El Rey Saturday night.

Between fans snapping photos of themselves at the “Voyeur” eye booth to a 6-year-old kid popping and locking on-stage (sorry guys, his breakdancing stole the show), this was not your average record release hometown show.

The guys tore through their set including highlights “Benny Goodman” (hello, live brass section!), “1997,” “Puzzle Pieces” and “Butch”.

It’s been a good while since my last crowd surfing sighting (especially at an indie rock show) but Saint Motel fans went totally bananas when the first few chords of “Butch” struck – singing at the top of their lungs, dancing and, yes, crowd surfing.

As if they needed a fireworks finale closer, the guys decided to cap off the night with another brand new track “Stories” and that’s when all hell broke loose.

I took my eyes off the stage for one minute (you know, to post a tweet) and when I looked up about 30 -40 people had rushed the stage and had hoisted lead singer AJ high above their heads.

Your post show summary is this: Saint Motel is getting ready to launch themselves into the big leagues. They successfully created an engaging and thoroughly entertaining aural pleasure of sights and sounds.

Well done guys, well done.

by Robb Rosenfeld