The music scene has evolved dramatically over the years. Genres from 20 years ago have branched out to accompany newer sounds and voices in the music industry. Calling a song, artist, or band ‘Rock n’ Roll’ could have an array of meanings in today’s day and age. However, one notion of Rock n’ Roll has seemed to remain the same through every phase and change the music industry has undergone and that notion is to defy expectations by going against the norm. One such Rock n’ Roller is experimental-indie band, Daughter. Band members, Elena Tonra, Igor Haefeli, and Remi Aguilella have recently left their homeland in the UK to take America by the reigns with their first US headlining tour.
On the 5th of October of 2013, Daughter played their biggest show to date at New York City’s Terminal 5. The band members’ excitement about performing in such a large venue definitely couldn’t be contained as they looked at each other between songs in disbelief saying under their breath, “I can’t believe this is happening”. Daughter opened the night up with a track from their new album If You Leave (2013), “Still”. Starting off slowly and quiet, with a few guitar chords accompanied by Elena’s haunting vocals, the entire venue stayed completely immobile as they took in the words being sung before them. Finally, the first chorus kicked in and brought with it a crescendo of sound and powerhouse notes and the hundreds of bodies filling up Terminal 5 began to move along.
Daughter followed up their opening piece with another new track, “Amsterdam”. In this song, we get to hear Igor sing back up for Elena and this created a perfect harmony for the audience to sing along to. “Love”, a track from Daughter’s second EP, The Wild Youth (2012) was played next. This is one of the band’s slowest and quietest tracks with the sole focus being on Elena’s captivating voice and heart wrenching lyrics. Suddenly, this song picks up in the final bridge and you can literally feel the angst in Elena’s words as she closed her eyes and sang: “Did she make your heart beat faster than I could? / Did she give you what you hoped for? / On nights so loveless, love, I hope it made you feel good / Knowing how much I adored you”.
Daughter continued their set list with more popular tracks, “Landfill”, “Winter”, and “Candles” and the crowd could not have been more thrilled to hear their favorites being played live. With the recorded tracks already featuring such powerful chords and mesmerizing music, it really set the bar high for Daughter’s live performance. So, it was a pleasant surprise when the live performances sounded even better than the recorded tracks.
The band went back to playing some more of their newer material from If You Leave (2013) with tracks “Shallow,” “Human”, “Smother,” and “Tomorrow”. The audience stayed completely engaged to the combination of Elena’s haunting sound, Igor’s effortless guitar chords, and Remi’s expert drum skills. Daughter closed their set with the arguably best and most popular tracks “Youth” and “Home”. Both songs exhibit such a strong sound both musically and lyrically and the passion in the room was felt by all as the crowd sang along loudly to Elena’s words.
When it came time for Daughter’s encore performance everyone wondered what they were going to play as their most famous tracks had already graced the ears of Terminal 5. Suddenly, familiar lyrics began to fill the venue and it became clear that Daughter was playing their own rendition of popular song, “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk. Ending the show in such a fun and unique way was, perhaps, a foreshadow of the night ahead for every New Yorker in the room after such a fulfilling night of music. So, maybe Daughter isn’t the most hardcore rock band. Maybe their music is a little more on the pretty side. Even so, in their short time of being a band, Daughter has been able to take the world by storm by creating a sound all their own… and there isn’t anything more Rock n’ Roll than that. Written by Vanessa Carlucci
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Discovered this band from NPRs Tiny Desk Concerts series just a few weeks after this performance…wish I had known then what I know now because I would have been at Terminal 5 for sure. They’re the real deal. Just mesmerizing, engaging and such craftsmanship. Great review…next best thing to being there. Thanks.