Photos by Laureen Krawse

This past Friday night, I was fairly surprised with both acts that took the stage at Webster Hall in New York City. The Lonely Forest and The Joy Formidable, each in their own way, put on a much heavier rock show than I was anticipating. While this also means that both bands exploded with energy and had a fantastic stage presence, the instrumental translation of their music didn’t entirely blend with what I expected based on their studio recordings.

This disparity is particularly true in the case of The Lonely Forest. Judging from Arrows, which came out earlier this year, I expected a more even blend between their mellow, melodic sound and the faster, guitar-heavy tracks. While certain songs did capture the varied tones of the Chris Walla-produced record, most of the set felt like a grittier re-imagination. While singer John Van Deusen’s voice gave the band a unique sound, there wasn’t much more to their live set to make them distinctive.

With The Joy Formidable, I was, for obvious reasons, expecting more of a rock show. I was also very eager for the arrival of singer Ritzy Bryan, a notoriously strong frontwoman. As a performer, she certainly didn’t disappoint. With her eyes widened and glued to the back of the room, she delivered songs with a comfortable swagger and poise that completely met my expectations. While the buzzing guitars and booming percussion were equal to what was established on the album, the band seemed to push the songs further than they needed to go. While I’m all for a band “rocking out” on stage, their drawn out tracks ceased to feel like they were for my benefit. Judging by the screams that echoed from the audience, though, it appeared that many disagreed with me.