Phillyist Playlist Rewind: Band of Skulls at the North Star

The members of Band of Skulls are interesting above and beyond their music. Bassist/Vocalist Emma Richardson competed on the English swimming team and won a few medals for her country. Drummer Matt Hayward played tennis with John McEnroe. Guitarist/Vocalist (and Kurt Cobain look alike) Russell Marsden cheated accidental death twice. But more interesting than that, there haven't been many times I've seen members of a headlining band hanging out in the crowd to watch their openers. And yet at the Band of Skulls show at the North Star I saw just that. Richardson lounged directly in front of me with a bottle of water and her tour manager on his laptap sitting by her side. Hayward and Marsden bounced around the sparsely populated room. Fans journeyed over for autographs that were graciously signed. If my car hadn't been so far away I would have gone to grab my copy of Baby Darling Doll Face Honey for a quick signature, too. I was almost worried the venue wouldn't fill up for the talented Brits, but of course by the time they took the stage went on there were plenty of people both upstairs and down.

Prior to the BOS set, I was curious to find out if they'd play the entire debut album straight through, or take another tactic. Baby Darling Doll Face Honey is a strong disc, but it is only a dozen songs worth of material. So I headed up to the balcony to see if I could steal a look at the set list. With a little bit of head-tilting and upside-down reading skills it wasn't too difficult to decipher: definitely recommended for any nosy music fan at the North Star. The trio executed a tight rock and roll set by omitting only the slower, acoustic "Honest" and gradually building ballad "Dull Gold Heart." When "Cold Fame," "Bomb," and "Blood" jammed into each other I checked my notes. A song on the original list definitely got skipped, but which one was too difficult to tell in the dark. A hum in the speakers during "Blood" briefly seemed to throw off the rhythm, but the band recovered nicely and shot into a great version of "Impossible" to close, a song that probably best highlights the cohesive harmonies Emma and Russell's voices produce.

The delay from "Impossible" hadn't even faded away entirely before the mystery of the missing song was solved and Band of Skulls came back for an encore of "Hollywood Bowl." Band of Skulls got thrust into touring so quickly that so far they have an intriguing balance of playing in their own world and out to the crowd when on stage. Expect their showmanship to develop as their fan base builds. Expect the fan base to build as soon as the tweens get their hands on that New Moon Soundtrack. And the next time they're in Philly expect them to play a bigger show that's all ages.

Photo by author.