I really wasn’t impressed the first time I saw Santah.
It was a lot of things. I was tired by the time they played their set. I was hanging out with this hippie dude at the time that drawled on about how he didn’t like them and I didn’t follow music closely enough back then to know how to disagree with him. But I did know that they sounded muted, unoriginal and all their songs blended together.
That show was at the Canopy Club, two years ago.
And now, after seeing them at the Canopy once again at the release show for their first LP, White Noise Bed, my perception of the local, up and coming rock band Santah couldn’t be more different.
Maybe I grew up, the band grew into themselves or both, but the energy behind this concert was infectious.
I remember the first Santah show had maybe ten people dancing non-committedly around the void room, myself included. Coming back, the place was packed — there were between 75 and 100 people crowding the stage.
Then I saw something I don’t usually see at local bands’ shows — people started yelling out song requests. This crowd knew and loved this band enough to be able to ask for their songs by name, impressive for a local band.
They played most of the tracks from their new album as well as a few covers. The high point of the night for me was their jammy, spirited cover of TV on the Radio’s “Wolf Like Me”.
It was a great show with a lot of people who love music on both sides of the stage. I strongly suggest that you check out their new album and support a very worthy local band.
Photos courtesy Erin Gillman