The Antlers and Cantilever headlined WBOR's annual spring concert on Friday night, filling Morrell Lounge with the indie-pop sound that both bands share.
Last semester's WBOR concert featured electronica groups RJD2, Shlomo, and Forget Forget. This semester, to appeal to different genres and interests, WBOR decided to mix things up a bit with indie-rock and lo-fi groups.
“We chose the Antlers because they have a sizeable following on campus, but they still fall in that vein of independent music,” said WBOR Station Manager Rachel Lopkin ’13. “We also like bringing back alumni too because it gives them a place to still showcase their music after graduating.”
Portland band Cantilever, composed of Henry Hoagland ’12, Marc Seligson, ’12, Will Holland,’12, and Peter McLaughlin ’10, cited The Antlers as one of their influences.
The Antlers “were a band Henry and I used to listen to a lot when we were first starting to play together,” said Holland.
“[The audience] will definitely hear some sounds that are reminiscent of the Antlers, quoting the Antlers in some way,” added Hoagland.
Cantilever opened the show with what McLaughlin called a “delicate electro-pop" sound, setting the stage for The Antlers' equally mellow set.
The Antlers opened with “Drift Dive,” off of their new EP “Undersea,” released in July 2012. True to the album title, the band was bathed in blue-green spotlighting as frontman Peter Silberman delivered soothing vocals.
A microphone malfunction struck during their second song, “I Don’t Want Love.” Silberman, however, was unperturbed by the mishap.
“That’s actually how the song goes, it finishes right in the middle,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
By the time The Antlers closed the show with “Putting the Dog to Sleep,” the crowd seemed to have been taken in by the band's atmospheric instrumentals.
“You could tell that most of the crowd were longtime Antlers fans, but those who weren't looked like they were watching in awe—collectively they’ve got a lot of stage presence,” said Veronica Verdin ’15.
Loud cheering followed “Putting the Dog to Sleep” and rapidly led into chants for an encore.
“We’re just going to play one more because you guys have parties to go to,” said Silberman, upon returning to the stage to perform “Epilogue.”
Asked before the concert how he thought the show would go, Cantilever’s Will Holland '12 predicted the night's elated, melancholic tone.
“WBOR presents a night of weeping,” Holland said.