GIVERS Drove The Millennium Falcon Into A Hurricane | GIVERS Live Review + Photos w/ Kind Cousin | The Social | October 17 2014

by Mitch Foster • November 6, 2014

There was this quiet snowflake that softly blew through the venue, leaving everyone slightly swaying like an afternoon breeze against palm trees. Bare and beautiful, Kind Cousin opened the show. When they took the stage, it was like we landed in the eye of a storm, where we remained while they performed, safe and comfortably.

A few Lagunitas IPAs between sets and the winds began to pick up, GIVERS took the stage and began to blow us the fuck away, they hit me like a hurricane. They were the storm. The Social was their vessel.

When I was interviewed on the radio a few weeks ago (WPRK) by the lovely Jessica Pawli, I was able to choose a few songs to play during breaks of our on-air interview. One of those songs I carefully selected was “Up Up Up” by GIVERS.

WARNING: If you listen to this song, it’ll be in your head the rest of the day. I’ve challenged several people and proven this theory time and time over. But, if you like living on the edge and wanna take a risk, check this shit out:

The sound at The Social wasn’t the best (as it hasn’t been lately) but, the way GIVERS moved to the sounds were absolutely, without a doubt, some of the best I’ve seen. The five members of GIVERS were swirling together and we were swirling with them from song to song.

GIVERS performed a new tune and, when I zoomed out, it was like watching the building and launching of the Millennium Falcon. The construction of the ship was viewed as a time-lapse, seeing the beauty in the intricacies of the craft being built. Then, the bridge of the song kicks in and the ship rises up and takes off to the speed of a heavy bass line. The pilot (lead singer/percussionist Tiffany Lamson) rocked-the-fuck-out, controlling every pitch, roll, and yaw, while standing up and playing the progressive percussion that drove the vehicle forward (more on her later). Through the last chorus the craft flies fast, maneuvering through deadly obstacles, shooting down everything in it’s path, proving it’s the most badass ship in the fucking galaxy! Needless to say, I’m pretty stoked about hearing GIVERS new material.

On a side note: Nobody does that shit (playing drums while standing up, well, not this good, AND she fucking sings WHILE she is played super complex shit!). I’m 100% in love with her style.

Though it appeared that Lamson controlled the ship onstage, I realized that their drummer, Kirby Campbell, was the one metaphorically standing behind the Captain’s chair, non-verbally delivering orders from his drum kit. And, everyone followed as instructed, to a T.

Lamson and I spoke after the show and she revealed a couple things that really helped make sense of the way GIVERS both create songs and perform. “I started playing on the stage when I was six [years old].” She mentioned. I feel this truly translates into her comfortable and forward-driving stage presence.

When inquiring about their methods of constructing songs, Lamson stated “The drums come first.” So, this means Lamson and co., write drum songs and build up from there. Being a drummer, and to go with the cliché of drummers being the “backbone of a band,” I must say: Building songs beginning with drums provide for a very, very solid foundation to move to. Kudos to GIVERS.

I was looking very forward to this show because GIVERS hasn’t toured in years. The last time I saw them was when they opened for Gotye at House of Blues Orlando. The best part of that show: GIVERS. The second best part of that show: Lamson singing Kimbra’s parts through the hit single by Gotye, “Somebody That I Used To Know.” Here’s a video from that actual show! (You finally see Tif Lamson right after the 3:30 minute mark. And she belts it out!)

Throughout their performance I came to a realization: Nobody is fucking making music like GIVERS. Nobody. They are in a test tube, a petri dish, growing, much like St. Vincent. Let’s see how large their sample becomes.

GIVERS Live Review by Mitch Foster.

GIVERS Live Photos by Martin Cardenas.