The old adage “practice makes perfect” has been preached to countless generations of musicians. It was also the inspiration for a surprise Band of Horses show at the Village Tavern on Monday night. “Honestly, we needed the practice,” said lead singer and Mt. Pleasant resident Ben Bridwell. The band had just wrapped four days of practicing in North Charleston and decided that a fifth wasn’t going to be necessary.
Instead, they called up the Village Tavern, which happily obliged at the prospect of a packed house on Monday night. Tickets went on sale downtown at 52.5 Records at the price of $12 a piece, cash only, with a limit of two. They were gone within the hour.
The Green and Bold were on hand to open the show and grabbed the audience’s attention immediately. Full of energy and impressive songwriting, the well-connected rockers might be your next shot at bragging rights for following a band before they hit it big.
When Band of Horses took the stage shortly after 9 p.m., the crowd roared with familiarity. A brunette squealed in an attempt to get guitarist Tyler Ramsey’s attention while Bridwell’s dad beamed with pride in the corner. The acoustics brilliantly reverberated off the walls of the intimate venue; there wasn’t a bad seat in the house. The set list was a mix of classics from their debut album, Everything All The Time and sophomore offering Cease to Begin as well as a few teaser tracks from the forthcoming Night Rainbow. As expected, the audience went nuts at hearing the opening chords of their hit single “The Funeral.”
The band hits the road today for what Bridwell called “the smallest world tour ever,” a 30-day jaunt that will take them to Scandinavia, Lollapalooza in Chicago, and Hawaii. Charlestonians are already awaiting their return.
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