There was excitement in the air at Future Islands’ Friday night show, held at the Ottobar to celebrate the release of their latest album, The Far Field. By inviting Nerftoss and Soul Cannon to open and choosing to play at Ottobar in lieu of a larger venue, Future Islands seemed to be giving back to the Baltimore community, which frontman Samuel T. Herring emphasized has meant a lot to the band.
This, in combination with his tendency to literally embrace audience members whilst singing, lent the show an intimate and communal rather than self-congratulatory feel. If you were in the audience, you were invited to temporarily let go both of the stressors of our current social and political climate and of those that simply come with the territory of being human, or at least to join in on the party and dance through them.
Nerftoss aka John C. Jones, formerly a member of Dope Body, had a setup that looked like the producer’s equivalent of a mad scientist’s lab — MacBook glowing beside his keyboard, wires protruding from a variety of soundboards.
His set was solid and, although his music may not immediately seem like a natural fit with Future Islands’, it provided an interesting sonic backdrop as the crowd gradually began to gather, growing over the course of his set.
Next up was the electric experimental rap group Soul Cannon, who had the crowd won-over almost immediately with their high-energy set. Soul Cannon’s Eze Jackson interacted with the crowd, playing off their energy.
At one point he asked, “I had a crazy ass week yo, did y’all have a crazy ass week?” before engaging the audience in a call-and-response: “If so, say ‘fuck that shit.’”
And then Jackson was off to the races again, spitting rhymes fast enough to leave himself out of breath — freestyling, dancing through a fantastic electric guitar solo, seeming to truly be relishing the moment.
By this point, the crowd was more than ready for Future Islands to take to the stage. While the beginning of their set unsurprisingly focused on highlighting several tracks off of The Far Field, including “Aladdin,” “Beauty of the Road,” “Cave” and “North Star,” Future Islands also played some deeper cuts from their second album, In Evening Air.
Their encore, a sampling of songs from The Far Field, Singles and In Evening Air, served as a reminder of the consistent intensity and strength of their material. The combination of the strobe lighting and Herring’s growl seemed momentarily to transport the crowd into an almost heavy-metal atmosphere.
Of course, the band had to include their breakout hit, “Seasons (Waiting On You).” Yet, given that this was one of their first shows since their break from touring, they seemed genuinely happy to do so, rather than bored by it or exasperated.
It was truly a testament to the effervescent energy and almost non-stop dancing that Herring is known for — whether it’s performing high-kicks during an instrumental break or practically throwing himself on the floor mid-verse — that his salmon-hued button-down was soaked through after the first several songs. It’s easy to see why so many fans of Future Islands emphasize the value of seeing them perform live.
I myself definitely gained a newfound level of respect for them as a result of witnessing this show. At one point, during “Before the Bridge,” I could see the entire crowd enthusiastically jumping up and down. This is what I love about going to live shows: They have the potential to generate a sense of unity among strangers, encapsulated in a moment.
The vast majority of those present were family, friends and dedicated fans, singing along with every song and ready to match Herring’s energy. You could tell that this wasn’t their first Future Islands rodeo. This was something the band seemed to humbly and fully appreciate, stopping to thank the crowd for “bringing their fucking souls” there.
The show streamed live on Pitchfork, and the band is listed at the top of the Sunday lineup for Coachella. The members of Future Islands have worked incredibly hard to get to where they are and have clearly put a lot of effort into their music, and they still seem to have a sense of humor about themselves.
When Herring realized they had not introduced themselves about two thirds of the way through the set, even he had to laugh, saying to himself, “Damn dude, put on a dry shirt before you come onstage.” Then, “Imagine if we’d just started. People would be like ‘What the fuck did that guy do?’”
Later on in the show, when they had to re-start “Ran,” Herring shook it off with laugh and an endearing smile: “We believe in ‘showing your work’ because we all failed math. We decided we must’ve fucked up somewhere, so now we show our work.”
With a 25 song, career-spanning set, Future Islands truly left it all on the stage that night, doing both Baltimore and their home-state of North Carolina proud.
In a day and age when a tween can get a record deal after one YouTube cover goes viral, there was a thrilling, almost nostalgic quality to watching a band enjoy the long-term payoff after truly putting everything on the line — playing DIY gigs day in and day out for years without much recognition or critical acclaim.
It is a classic, feel-good success story, and that night the crowd at Ottobar were given the chance to play a part, however small.
