So, this was my first time seeing July Talk live. They’re one of the newest additions to the OTM family and after my interview with them a few weeks ago; I had some pretty high expectations going into their show. Those expectations were met and well exceeded. Let’s just say, to call July Talk’s set at the Silver Dollar Room last night energetic, wouldn’t quite cut it.

It was probably about 10 minutes before the band’s midnight slot when I realized it was suddenly hard to move. The bar had filled up in the blink of an eye. And about eyes, all of them were on front woman Leah Fay as she stepped on stage wearing a halo made out of white flowers.

But once they started playing, it was clear that the boys weren’t going to let her take the entire spotlight.

The thing about July Talk is that they don’t just play – they perform. First, there’s this back and forth between Leah and her partner-in-crime frontman Peter Dreimanis that is pretty show stopping. They bite, push, tug hair and do just about anything to each other that the songs call for. And you can’t ignore their voices. Leah’s is soft, sweet but fiery and Peter sounds like he smokes 8 packs a day (and I mean that with nothing but admiration).

Then, like I said, there are the rest of the boys who can’t go unnoticed. They killed each of their catchy, fun, slightly 50′s tinged songs and the crowd gave back, dancing like you rarely see.

Photos by Andrew Williamson