Colatura at The Broadway (photo by Ray Rusinak)
About a month ago, I happened upon a video of a band playing the New Colossus Festival over at 18th Ward Brewing and was immediately hooked. That band was Colatura. I knew as soon as I saw the clip that I needed to keep an eye out for them. Fortunately for myself and another 100 or so other fans, they were having a record release show at The Broadway in late August to celebrate the release of their new single, King Kalm.
The show took place on Wednesday 8/25 and Colatura was everything that I’d hoped for. Hitting the stage at just about 11 PM, the band was clearly stoked to be where they were, doing what they were doing…playing infectious jingle jangly, harmony laden, happy music. With three lead singers, Digo Best on guitar,, Jennica Best on bass, and Merideth Lampe on synths and guitar, you would wonder if there would be enough space in a set to flesh out each of their voices. Fortunately this never seemed to be an issue. Trading vocals back and forth throughout the evening like two grade school kids swapping baseball cards in the school yard, the band fit together like a glove, or maybe more like a mitten, taking five fingers (or in this case four musicians) and making them one.
Their set consisted of mainly new songs which the band has been working on over the course of the pandemic, all of which sounded fantastic and word has it that we can expect a debut full length LP from them sometime this fall. With varying styles which range from synthy post punk new wave to early 60’s girl group vibes, I would say the easiest way to describe Colatura is they’re like sunshine streaming out of an amplifier with its volume set at nine. Closing out the evening with a blistering version of their song “I Don’t Belong Here,” they sent the crowd home shimmering and shaking into the night.
I would be remiss if I failed to mention the two opening bands who did such a great job setting the tone for the evening. First up was OK Cowgirl. Led by singer and main songwriter, Leah Lavigne, the band provided a wonderful set of breezy dream pop which was equal parts Fleetwood Mac and Mazzy Star wrapped up into one.
Following the first set was Forever Honey, another band which had a floating in the clouds sense to them. Lead vocalist, Liv Price’s voice proved to be quite soothing and comforting on the band’s more breezy material, yet on songs such as closer, “Christian,” she and the band proved themselves to be a rock and roll machine stirring the crowd into a kaleidoscope of swirling and dancing bodies.
All in all, The Broadway should be proud of themselves for putting together such a great lineup of bands for our listening pleasures. As for the bands themselves, thanks for a fantastic evening of music. Keep them all on your radar, they are worth the attention.
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Ray Rusinak)
OK COWGIRL
FOREVER HONEY
COLATURA
