North Carolina folkestra Lost In The Trees played an intriguing set at Orpheum in Ybor City. Though the size of the crowd indicated it was a Monday night with only around 50 people packed into the dark pit of a bar, the quality of the performance didn't suffer in the least and will likely be remembered by those who were in attendance for years to come.
It all started with a human dinosaur.
Lead singer Ari Picker took the stage with an acoustic guitar and began singing and playing a quiet and delicate number with vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Emma Nadeau. A few moments later, what appeared to be a dinosaur skeleton wound its way to the stage, the strange skeleton led by smiling, flag-waving women. The prehistoric beast turned out to have been a white-sheet costume put on by three of the bands members and began a night that was as much performance as it was rock show.
It would be fair to categorize Lost In The Trees as throwbacks, bringing seldom-used instruments to rock music. For one, the septet employed classical instrumentation and composition, including cello, violin, French horn and tuba. I also heard elements of opera in Nadeau’s haunting, piercing falsetto, an instrument of deep emotion.
Cuts ranged from the ominous strings and crashing drums of “Walk Around The Lake” to the light, delicate pop of “Song For The Painter.” The arrangements careened my emotions against the black walls of the Orpheum, with evoked moods of deep sadness, childlike happiness and camp-firey camaraderie.
The band also did something that I had not seen since Phosphorescent at Orlando’s Will’s Pub – they got off the stage. Near the end of the set, the septet came into the crowd and asked the audience to sing a small part of “Fire Taunts Me.” It was this commingling that reinforced the camp-like hominess of the Chapel Hill band.
Even though Jurassic Park might disagree, the night’s set showed that sometimes bringing back dinosaurs can be a good thing.
Setlist
This Dead Bird Is Beautiful
Garden
Wandering
Walk Around The Lake
Tall Trees
All Alone In An Empty House
An Artist’s Song
Song For The Painter
A Room Where Your Paintings Hang
Fireplace
Time Taunts Me
