Local Natives with Uwade
Mercury Ballroom
Louisville, KY
May 11th, 2024
California indie-rock band Local Natives brought their Time Will Wait For No One But I’ll Wait For You Tour to Mercury Ballroom on May 11th to a sold out crowd. In their almost 20 years as a band, they have amassed a large and passionate fan base, with many of their fans packing out this evening’s venue for a fun night of singing and dancing! Opening the show this evening was Nigerian-born and New York-based singer-songwriter Uwade. With a soft but powerful voice, she performed several songs for the crowd this evening, chatting with the crowd between songs. About halfway through her set, she spoke about her father, who sadly passed away in 2020, and how he taught her to sing. She sang a cover of Victor Uwaifo’s “Ladarore”, a favorite song of his, dedicating the song to him. She spoke throughout her set with sincerity and humor, telling stories and making the crowd laugh at times. She spoke about how she got her start posting covers online of songs she likes and how her most recent “claim to fame” was touring recently with Fleet Foxes, whose 2020 record Shore featured Uwade’s voice opening the album. Mentioning how she was in the process of recording new music, she eneded her set with a new song. Her set was a beautiful start to the evening!
Closing out the evening was Local Natives. It’s easy to see how they have cultivated such an ever-growing fan base. These guys have a fun and upbeat energy on stage that is infectious. You cannot help but dance and sing (if you know the words) and have a good time! Starting their set off with “Just Before The Morning”, they had the crowd dancing in no time! Awash in bursts of multi-colored lighting, the band was high-energy from the first note! Having released their latest album, But I’ll Wait For You, last month, they performed several songs from the album that included “Alpharetta”, “Throw It In The Fire”, and “April”, as well as a variety of songs that spanned their 5 other albums and 3 EPs. The band was having fun together on stage, with Taylor Rice (vocals/guitar), Ryan Hahn (guitar/keys/vocals), Kelcey Ayer (vocals/keys/percussion/guitar), and Nick Ewing (bass/keys/vocals), all moving around the stage throughout the set, changing instruments and engaging with the crowd. It was clear to see that these guys love their fans as much as their fans love them, and made sure that throughout the set that everyone was having fun! They ended their set with “Wide Eyes”, “Dark Days”, and “Sun Hands”, before waving to the the crowd and leaving the stage, only to come back out moments later, to thunderous applause and chanting, for a 3-song encore. Starting out their encore with “Paradise”, they ended the evening with “Who Knows, Who Cares” and “When Am I Gonna Lose You”. After the music had stopped and the crowd erupted in applause, the band all stood together, side-by-side, and took a bow, waving to the crowd in gratitude. Sadly, this tour will be the last for Kelcey Ayer, who amicably departed from the band at the end of April but is remaining with the band for the last phase of this tour, making the evening more special, if not a little bittersweet. The band gave their fans 110% this evening and a fun time was had by all!
Uwade
Local Natives
