If you’ve seen the show 13 Reasons Why, you’ll know that its soundtrack contains a rather unexpected wealth of alternative music. Amid wide controversy over the show, I was drawn to watch its first season, and was pleasantly surprised by the number of songs I found myself looking up moments after hearing their starting notes in the background. For a few months, I found myself obsessed with songs by Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam, Sir Sly, and a band I had never heard of before, Lord Huron. Their song “The Night We Met,” which was featured as a focal point in episode 5, quickly hit international music charts after the show’s release. I heard it everywhere– on the radio, in YouTube videos, and of course on my own playlists. The song now has over 240 million plays on Spotify, more than a year after the show’s release. However, 13 Reasons Why did more than just turn the song into an overnight sensation; it brought Lord Huron’s other music into the public eye, or at least the eyes of hundreds of Seattle spectators on a rainy June night.

The show started off with an quirky performance from opener Stef Chura, who donned glasses with thin wire frames and played a down-to-earth, folksy performance. I began the night skeptical of Stef, but was quickly won over by her charming personality and unique voice. In between songs, she told anecdotes about being on the road and having their van broken into while in Portland. My favorite moments in the performance were Stef’s acoustic songs, which brought out a softer side to her voice.

Lord Huron started off their set strong with a smattering of songs from their new album, Vide Noir (2018). Images of galaxies, flowers, and beaches floated fleetingly through the background, adding another layer of dimension to the music. At some point during the show, Ben Schneider, the band’s main singer, donned a brown fedora. As he sang the last chorus of “Fool for Love,” one of the band’s more uplifting hits, the fedora slipped off of his head in his excitement. It was refreshing to see a band so excited and happy to perform– to me, it truly felt like each band member was having a good time and enjoyed playing with their friends.

Surprisingly, Lord Huron didn’t finish off the night with their most popular song; although “The Night We Met” made its way into the band’s encore, they opted to finish the show by returning to their roots with the upbeat song “We Went Wild” from their first EP, Into the Sun EP (2010), as Schneider recalled their first show in Seattle. The song felt fitting for a night full of dancing, old friends, and reminiscing on good times gone by.

Article and Photos by Emma Jaeger

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