BLOOD AND GLASS PLAY A BEAUTIFUL SET AT THE LIVING ROOM

In a sea of dying DIY venues, The Living Room, once a staple in the Lower East Side of Manhattan made the bold move to Williamsburg recently, and I made my inaugural visit Friday night to see Montreal band, Blood and Glass, an undoubtedly unique band of lush, ethereal vocals from lead singer Lisa Moore and vocalist Erika Angell. Their voices formed a stunning contrast to hard-hitting drums and powerhouse guitar solos. I also found it interesting that Morgan Moore, bassist, and also Lisa’s husband, served as bandleader of sorts, with many stops and starts of the spurred from his direction.

Blood and Glass started the night with an intro of various sized paper cranes adorning the stage, with the largest of them nestled gently in Lisa’s hands. Robotic movements from Lisa culminated with the destruction of said crane, ripped shreds falling at her feet. She launched into her first song, rousing and eccentric. Forging through the set, their songs ranged from beautiful and heartbreaking to loud and jarring, in a good way. They traversed both extremes with ease, drawing the crowd in deeper and deeper with each note. As they played their first single, “Paper Heart,” a bouncy, catchy, swelling tune, I looked around the room to see the rest of the crowd bobbing their heads and enjoying the dreamy, warm atmosphere the band created.

Of course the wonderful atmosphere was also helped along by opening act, Joe Grass of The Barr Brothers. A one-man band of sorts, Joe used loop pedals, violin bow, and various guitar effects to pile on layers and layers of distortion until it formed something quite beautiful. The love of distortion was also carried over to pedal steel, as he related a story to us all about how he loved the sound a small metal can of facial water spray made on the instrument. He was an unordinary singer/songwriter to round out an unusual but completely gratifying evening.

Article by: Lesley Keller