Across Strange Trails: The Night I Met Lord Huron

In today’s digital age, it’s all too easy to get caught up in taking the easy shortcut. Especially where music is concerned. Take a song from this album, a couple drips from this E.P., oh, and that song that played on the radio the other day. Put it together, and there’s a crafted playlist for whatever the mood requires. But on their most recent tour, celebrating the 10^th anniversary of their album Strange Trails, Lord Huron’s founder and lead singer, Ben Schneider, seemed to disagree somewhat with this method.

Toward the tail-end of an incredible, encapsulating performance, he mentioned their recently released album The Cosmic Selector’ Vol.1, preaching the importance of playing it from back to front, no skips. After highlighting the effort that goes into the storytelling of a good album, and a good album it is (perhaps even review worthy…), he ended with: “In your car, in your bedroom, even outside under the stars. Just listen to it through. You might like it”. Words that perhaps we can all listen to.

The performance itself was without a doubt one of the greatest I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing. With everything from a star-studded set list, an encore that nearly tore the roof of Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo clean off, and even a telephone box as a microphone, not a shortcut was taken, nor was a penny spared in preparation. From country to indie rock, from slow-paced and emotional to punchy basslines and harmonica solos, there was something for every listener.

The set seemed to tell a story. A story that emphasised the importance of love, unity, and the ability to find each other in a world that seems all too divided. Opening the set with ‘Who Laughs Last’ was certainly a quickfire way of riling the crowd up, before serenading us with some sure-to-be classics such as ‘La Belle Fleur Savage’ and, of course, ‘The Night We Met’, which, after a few drinks, propelled both Riffs and Runway straight into their feels. An ever-changing backdrop, an exquisitely curated stage, and the distinctly cosmic feel to the show made us feel like we were watching an outer-universal masterpiece. And I can confirm without the need to think too hard, Lord Huron did in fact put on a show that was out of this world.

I came into Hammersmith on a particularly warm evening, keen on a handful of songs that they’d made, and left into a far chillier night’s air a far larger fan than I possibly could have imagined. They have since engulfed my listening habits, and if you’re not careful, you might see the same thing happen to you.