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May 5th, 2019

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The Ones to Watch Tour made a stop at the House Of Blues on Friday night bringing three up and coming bands to Cleveland: lovelytheband, Flora Cash and Jagwar Twin. 

 

Headliner lovelytheband has already gained success with the Billboard Music Award’s nominated single “Broken.” The band played a loose and fun set, touching mostly on 2018’s Finding it Hard To Smile album. Front man Mitchy Collins fed the crowd all of his energy during the bands eighty-minute set, taking time to tell the crowd how much the band loves them.  He also spoke about the importance of mental health and equal rights. 

 

From the minute LTB took the stage the pit was rocking, the lines: “You sound like you’re from London, but I know you’re from Ohio” from“Make You Feel Pretty” set the stage for how loud the crowd would be all night. The four piece outfit's stage show is tailor made for bigger venues and spaces; each microphone stand  is draped in roses, a neon light logo behind the band, and plenty of strobe lights. The set featured a fun cover of The Killer’s “Mr. Brightside” and ended with their hit single, “My Friends.” If Friday evening's set is any indication, this band will be playing bigger stages very soon. 

 

Flora Cash played a mostly quite, dark set. The forty-minute, nine song offering was highlighted by the band's use of back-lighting that made them appear to be strobe balls. Midway through the set, the band played what is probably their most upbeat song, "18 Dollars." The mostly-teenaged female audience were singing along with the band during their hit single,“You’re Somebody Else.” Lead vocalist Shpresea was timid and reserved on stage but did interact with the crowd by teaching them a few of her native Swedish words. The duo's dream pop/alt pop felt similar to earlier MGMT.  Only time will tell if they’ll be as successful.

 

Jagwar Twin opened the show with their latest single "Long Time Coming" and had the crowd singing and waving their arms from note one.  Front man Roy English has a great stage presence and really knows how to interact with the audience.  Their thirty-minute set ended with their biggest hit,"Loser" which had the fans in the pit rocking and singing along.

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It was a great night of indie-pop music performed by three very different bands.  All three bands have something to offer and they are artists you should definitely keep your eyes on in the near future.

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Photos by Greg Drugan

Review by Troy Smith

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