Concert Review: Welcome To The Valley!

People are falling in love with Valley, in part, because they swim in the murkiness of life. From ¨Break You¨ to ¨Champagne,¨  the crowd sang their lyrics back to them as if it was ¨Hallelujah.¨At Irving Plaze, I realized they have the perfect formula. From lead vocalist Rob Laska and  drummer     Karah James interchanging/harmonizing vocals to the ebb and flows of songs that are never quite happy or sad, Valley feels like the perfect band for how mid we can all feel. 

Yes, I said it…. MID. Life can feel like a giant mid… just never quite enough or much of anything. Even when you feel it is the apocalypse, it never hands, and no amount of joy every feels like enough. Sonically, Valley feels colorfully calming as their verses show the imbalance of loving people that break you or being willing to break just to love something. It is as if we are all on a constant spiral to feel a spark, and Valley are the closest band to putting common feeling in a consistent soundscape. 

For the first time, at a show, I looked at my friend and said, ¨They feel solid.¨ Then I proceeded to drive myself to my geriatric home located in 1938 Connecticut where bubblegum is worth a penny and a pickle. I could not believe I said that…..solid. I might as well have called them ¨the cat´s meow¨ or ¨neat.¨ Yet, their entire setlist and delivery felt constant and steady. They know who they are, what they deliver, and it felt like an hour in your favorite tv show; where you know you will get the same cast, chatter, and jokes that make you feel fulfilled every Friday night. People need consistency, they love it, and Valley has that, which makes me wonder but also know how far they can go. 

I got to interview Valley years back, and I liked the coolness of their vibe. They just felt so present, genuine, and fluid by their very nature, which makes me unsurprised by their rise. Yet, admittedly, I did not realize just how special they were as performers and songwriters. In a world, where everyone feels like they are stuck in some kind of in-between in their life, Valley normalizes that limbo as just an inevitable part of the human experience, and that hit their crowd like oxygen. For More Info On Valley Click Here.