Written by Carlye Hechtman, Photos by Laureen Krawse

Webster Hall’s floor almost collapsed when Sleigh Bells took the stage last night.  The show marked one year, to the day, of the release of Treats, their widely popular debut album. Set to a backdrop of Marshall amps about ten feet wide and eight feet high, Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller blew the doors off the place. The sold-out show exploded with excitement when Derek emerged from behind the smoke-filled wall of amps after a hardcore ode to Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man.”

Alexis danced out on stage wearing blood-splattered leggings and their signature basketball jersey band tee that read “Slay Bells” to “Crown on the Ground”. Their interaction with the crowd was outstanding with Alexis crowd-surfing at one point during “Infinity Guitars” and encouraging the sea of show-goers to sing along. The chemistry these two have is rare and extraordinary to watch, seeing them feed off one-another is brilliant. Not a single body in the entire venue was standing still, fans of all ages could not help but get up and dance with the highly energetic twosome.  Even the business men in monkey suits cut loose.

The show was visually and aurally pleasing. After their set was over, Alexis screamed “It’s good to be home” to the crowd, and danced happily off stage. The pair, who just returned from Coachella, are playing the Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight and Bowery Ballroom on Sunday May 15th. Alexis and Derek will also be playing Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 6th.

Their inaugural release, Treats, sold over 500,000 copies world-wide while earning an admiral debut at fourth place on the Billboard independent charts. No word yet on a sophomore release via Mom + Pop Records. The future only holds great things for these stellar performers.