Show Review: Sir Sly at The El Rey Theatre

Sir Sly opened last Tuesday on the first of two St. Lucia headlining shows at The El Rey Theatre. Although not as poppy in sound in comparison to St. Lucia, the bill was a perfect fit and one I was definitely excited for. Doors to the venue opened at 8pm and the band went on just slightly past 9pm.

I should probably mention that this was my third time seeing Sir Sly. I watched the band play an outdoor stage last summer at Echo Park Rising. They completely blew me away and I remember a huge crowd quickly gathering around the stage, only growing larger as the set progressed. The second time I saw them, towards the tail end of their 2013 US Fall tour, they headlined the Echoplex. The band sounded great, flawless actually, but for some reason that performance didn’t stand out to me. So now, going on my third time seeing Sir Sly, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect.

The band started the set off with “Where I’m Going,” relaxed and slow in tempo with haunting backup vocals (courtesy of keyboardist Jason Suwito), but still something you can move to. Much of their music is rather unhurried, providing some stand out moments and epic build-ups. It’s funny because if you check out their Facebook page and read their genre, they have “Sly-Fi” listed. After consistently listening to the band for months and seeing them (now) three times, I feel it’s the perfect description. Their music is very atmospheric and whether you’re listening to them live or at home with your headphones on, you’re IN IT. It’s a total experience in itself.

They followed it up with “Found You Out,” my personal favorite from the band. The entire ‘Gold’ EP was played that night with some new songs here and there. I surveyed the crowd and they were definitely digging it. The band wasn’t all too unfamiliar to some, as I saw some fans up front dancing and singing along.

Mid-set a sarcastic voice yelled “Sweater Weather!” at the band. Cue the eye rolling on my part… Clearly, we weren’t watching The Neighbourhood, and in all honesty I was happy about that. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Sir Sly gained the popularity equal to or greater than the latter within the next couple of months.

The highlight of the night for me was when they played one of their newer songs “Out of My Mind” (I’m just going to assume the track name there). It’s one of the more upbeat songs from the band, which gave them the opportunity to rock out just as hard. Landon Jacobs’ vocals really shine through on this one as he belts out the chorus “I don’t know why, I must be out of my mind.”

They closed out their set with “Gold,” one of their most popular tracks as well as the title of their 2013 EP. As the song began, yellow lighting appropriately illuminated the stage. Cell phones immediately came out as those in the crowd began to pull up their social media of choice and (presumably) Snapchat their new favorite band to their friends.

Come song’s end, the crowd responded well with loud cheers and hands in the air. Keyboardist Suwito gave an appreciative nod to the crowd, drummer Hayden Coplen smiled, and vocalist/guitarist Jacobs thanked the crowd and told them to enjoy St. Lucia. As they walked off the stage the cheers continued, and after that performance I’d say the praise was well deserved.

Sir Sly completely exceeded my expectations with this performance. Sure, the beautiful venue and killer lighting (for the photography nerd in me) might have helped, but in terms of performance and sound…incredible. 2013 was a good launching year for the guys, but with a full length hopefully due out this year, they’re going to kill it in 2014.

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