Friday April 5 arrives-the first concert I attend to for the month of April. What better way to start it than with the band Sales, a duo composed of musicians Lauren Morgan and Jordan Shih.I got to the venue around 7:20ish and I proceed to the line. Happy hour was at its peak, and the audience started to collect, conversations hummed, and drinks were piling by the minute. I met another Sales fan and they were excited to see the opener’s Lunar Vacation and Varsity. The night struck 8 and the audience huddled towards the opening gates.
The first opener, Lunar Vacation, paid a bittersweet tribute to band Her’s (rest in peace) with the song “Marcel”. It was unexpected and hearts melted at the strum of the chords. I have never heard of Lunar Vacation till that night, this young band performed a fresh set full of intricate guitar solos and key changes- a definite follow from me on my Spotify. The following opener was Varsity, very familiar in name but I couldn’t remember what song I heard before. It wasn’t until they played their single “So Sad, So Sad” that it clicked for me. Fan’s screamed and chimed with oohhh’s, jumping in and out of sync.
Finally, Sales came out. Travis’s Scott’s “goosebumps” feat Kendrick Lamar started to play as Lauren, Jordan, and their touring drummer Malcom Martin walked onto the stage. They smiled and started to sing along to the song while tuning and testing their instruments. Lauren walked up to the microphone and yelled “Wow, you all look so beautiful right now!”, the crowd screamed back ” YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL”. They opened the set with “A to B” a track from their 2018 album Forever and Ever. They charmed the fluttery audience to sways and closed eyes; lullabies to chill the hot night.
After a few songs in, someone from the audience told me “She isn’t using a pick!”, Lauren’s fingers danced over the guitar strings, pick-less and concentrated. The band held themselves with humbleness and simplicity and with every song it hyped the audience besides the chill and slow lo-fi sound. Later in the show, Lauren pulled out a bubble gun and rained the audience with soap and suds, telling them to take out their phones to light up the night. The song “Ivy” chimed in to the artificial stars of the night. Sales performance was intimate and modest, lifting their audience to a calming wave of beats and guitar whispers. A show to play in my dreams.
