The Record Crate

For me, concert lineups that I’m 100% into aren’t a hot commodity. Many of the groups I’m into try to give smaller bands their breaks by taking them on tour. Either that, or the band I’m going to see is the opener for a bigger band that I couldn’t care less about. Last night changed EVERYTHING because last night, The Knocks and Ellie Goulding descended upon the great city of Boston.

The Knocks are a dance duo straight out of NYC. I’ve been getting down to these guys for quite some time, yet was a little unsure of what their live show would be like. They hit the stage as two dudes, with a ton of keyboards and drum pads, separated by live drums that were used to accent their live performance. I was most surprised at how their set had a “scratch-n-spin” DJ set feel to it, but it was all done live. Closing out their set with a few remixes, a new song and their universal feeler “Dancing With the DJ,” the boys from the Manhattan set the stage for Ellie in phenomenal form.

After what seemed like forever, including multiple interactions with one of those “don’t you know who I am?” underage groups, Ellie hit the stage promptly at 9:15 with “Under the Sheets.” Putting my obvious lust for the woman aside, she put on one hell of a show. Being her first time in Boston, she was noticeably nervous when she first hit the stage, but loosened up over the course of the night (thanks, at least in some part, to the dude who gave her a shot before “Guns and Horses”). Although her set, at times, felt a little like a VH1 Storytellers episode, it was more obvious than ever that her songs had real backing and had more substance than that of your run-of-the-mill pop star. That…and she’s beautiful. When all was said and done, the crowd at the Paradise was left in awe. From the first note of “Under the Sheets,” to her rendition of Elton John’s “Your Song,” to her (predictable) encore of “Starry Eyed,” she delivered ten-fold. I can’t confidently say what the future holds for her career, but I’m going to sit back and enjoy the ride.