Whenever I hear that a band comes from Gainesville, Florida, my initial reaction is that they must be a No Idea Records style punk band. After all, that seems to be the bulk of that city’s musical exports. That and Tom Petty. As it turns out, Hundred Waters have proven that there’s more to Gainesville than all that with their mellow electronic sound. The band released The Moon Rang Like A Bell (Remixed) earlier this month and have been making a bit of a name for themselves as of late with a recent appearance on Letterman, a tour with Interpol (that was interrupted by a snowstorm for a few days) and a song of theirs being used in a Superbowl commercial – you know, the one in which their music combined with a certain cola beverage inspires people to be nicer to each other online.
In concert, the band doesn’t exactly reimagine their tracks as full on club bangers, but there was perhaps a little more heft to it when performed live, a little extra energy put into the songs. Paul Giese and Trayer Tryon were kind of rocking out on the synths and the light show helped to amp things up a bit. Furthermore, a note to all electro based bands: a live drummer always makes things more impressive. Hundred Waters proves this rule.
Of course, the main attraction was singer Nicole Miglis, who has quite the voice – powerful yet ethereal. One of the highlights of their set was the aforementioned Superbowl commercial song, “Show Me Love,” which she performed in a stripped down, piano based format. While their music may not actually have the power to magically make us nicer, on this night it certainly had the audience feeling pretty good.