Concert Review: Old Sea Brigade Turns Mercury Lounge Into A Sonic Garden

Old Sea Brigade is a fascinating artist because he treats sound as important as a verse. At Mercury Lounge, his performance was like a seesaw, of which, at times, rhythms outweighed lyrics and vice versa. Planting each in separate, sonic gardens, he made his songs feel like flower beds, of which you never knew what kind of rose you would pluck. 

With Jon Bryant and El Mar opening, the night was set up to be thoughtful. It was as if OSB was the cap to a long drive down a winding road; playing to those time when you want your mind to be active but your body to be dormant. You don’t want to run around like a sparkler or think too much, but you do want to think clearly and feel settled. Thus, his tracks activated mindfulness in the audience and exhilarated them with the chance to explore the million of thoughts we get per minute an turned them into one: peace. 

From “Sinkhole”  to “Tidal Wave, “ OSB wailed on their guitars as if their chords were made for silence to speak. Picture it! Imagine silence was really a mute woman, and the only way she could speak is when she placed her energy in a melody. It is a gorgeous, tragically mythical notion that interweaved into songs such as,  “Seen A Ghost” or   “Once Again.” Like other bands, Old Sea Brigade are not the chattiest, but its because they create songs that speak for themselves. Certain artists, like Tori Kelly, have the “gift of gab,” and use their stories to further heighten their tracks, but artists like Old Sea Brigade need to use the quiet to elaborate how much their sound wants to say. 

Going to an OSB concert is like going to The Met. Each song is a room dedicated to art pieces created in the many different eras/ relationships of your life. As crazy as it sounds, some of us really do describe our lives like chaptered relationships; eras in which we tried to learn to love ourselves by how we loved someone else. For this effect, OSB’s lead singer, Ben Cramer, relies on his voice like a whirlwind of soft, whimsical notes that swirl lyrics until they become vulnerable, which is what they should be; a verse is your vulnerability turned into poetry. For More Information On Old Sea Brigade Click Here