Cape Town, South Africa, natives Civil Twilight have supported the likes of Mutemath, Young The Giant, Of Monsters and Men and Florence + The Machine, to name a few, but they are currently headlining their own tour in support of their forthcoming full-length “Story Of An Immigrant” (due June 2 via Wind-Up Records). They began their set Tuesday night at the Troubadour with buzzing new track “Fire Escape” and roped the crowd into their moody performance with opening lyrics “We are the desperate ones/Looking for the mark/We are the lonely ones/Left out here in the dark.” Occasionally such weighty lyrics will come across as disingenuous but Civil Twilight do more than going through the motions. Having moved to L.A. in 2005, and then to Nashville where they picked up keyboardist Kevin Dailey, the band have refined their brand of passionate alt-rock. Fans at the Troubadour watched intently as frontman/bassist Steven McKellar’svocals shifted from delicate to soaring above drummer Richard Wouters’ driving rhythms. Together they seamlessly moved into “Soldier” and “Trouble” from their first album, and fans were just as pleased to hear new songs as they were old. “Doorway” from the upcoming record showed off McKellar’s inescapably Bono-esque timbre. The frontman and his brother, guitarist Andrew McKellar, were raised on classical and opera music but like any normal teens eventually started listening to grunge. Without a great expanse of rock music in South Africa, they listened to what they could and began creating their own. What they’ve honed in on is grandiosity reminiscent of U2 and Massive Attack, with the emotive elements of Radiohead and the National. “Story Of An Immigrant” carried a more earthy beat, suggesting there are elements of their Cape Town roots in their music. The band members often smiled at one another and it was clear to swooning fans in any row that Civil Twilight’s music acted as a medium of emotive suspension. Steven McKellar moved over to the keyboard, where he performed melancholy ballad “Human,” carrying the ready-made lyrics “Its only love/It’s only pain/It’s only fear that runs through my veins,” but it was 2009 single “Letters From The Sky” that stole the entire evening with it’s gorgeously cinematic passion and palpable earnestness. Steven McKellar returned to the stage for an encore, thanking the crowed for filling the room and closed the night with ironically titled track “Quiet In My Town,” during which the rest of the band eventually took their places to send fans home with a rising crescendo.
Photos by me for Buzzbands.LA
Civil Twilight were opened by Arkansas’ Knox Hamilton
