After a bewitching opening set at Cat’s Cradle, I mentioned to Future Island’s charismatic lead singer, Sam Herring, “I think you were a thespian in a past life.” He gently smiled and responded, “I think I’m one in this life.”
Herring and fellow band mates, keyboardist Gerrit Welmers and bassist William Cashion, formed Future Islands back when they were in college in Greenville, North Carolina. They have been fan favorites of local music lovers for many years, but made what was arguably their national break through with 2010’s In Evening Air.
While in college, the band coined the term Post-Wave to describe their music - combining minimalist New-Wave inspired synthesizer melodies with Post-Punk tempos. However, the truly signature feature of the group is Herring’s gravelly and haunting voice (which is most often compared to Tom Waits) and dramatic performance style. Dressed in khakis with a tucked in white dress shirt, he paces the stage with the intensity of a boxer - crouching down to the audience and reaching out towards some imaginary tangible emotion suspended in space before ripping it back with his hands.
He commits to the performance. The strain of emotion that is worn on his face matches the confessional lyrics about pain and heartache.When performing the popular single, “Tin Man” Herring jumped in place as the metallic notes of the keyboard intro built, aggressively thumping his chest. The fierce physicality of Herring’s on stage persona is a stark character foil to his warm and docile personality
All three members are incredibly friendly guys who were thrilled to be back with friends and family in North Carolina, after having moved to Baltimore in 2007. Before the show they discussed plans to get barbecue and visit Bojangles while in town.
As with all North Carolinians, the Cat’s Cradle is an especially significant place for the band. Herring mentioned on stage, “Growing up in North Carolina if you’re in a band, this is where you want to be.”
In homage to their love of North Carolina, the soon to be released album, On The Water, was recorded at a friends house in Elizabeth City. Future Islands closed their set with the new atmospheric song, "Grease", that opens like clouds parting to reveal a post-winter landscape, and a conscience pensively taking stock of the icy damage.
On The Water will be released sometime this fall, and I look forward to hearing the new album and seeing the band in Raleigh NC, for the Hopscotch Music Festival in September.
You can see more photos from this show on New Raleigh. All photos were taken by Jennifer Finan, who also filmed and edited the video.
