Austra @ The Independent, SF 6/26/13

Wednesday was a great day to be in San Francisco. With the repeal of DOMA and the dismissal of Prop 8, the entire city was ready to celebrate. For the lucky audience at The Independent, we got to party to the ethereal dance beats of Austra, a dark wave, synthpop Canadian group. Austra released their sophomore album, Olympia, on June 17/18th and after their phenomenal show last year, it only made sense for them to chose The Independent as host to one of their album release parties.

Once the band started, it took all of 30 seconds before the sold-out crowd started letting loose. They kicked off with album opener “What We Done?” and the beats immediately drew you in while Katie Stelmanis’ haunting voice floated from the stage to completely envelope us in the experience. They followed up with the personal “Painful Like” that discusses the struggle of being gay. She sang “someone may see, but I don’t care” to which this SF crowd responded with an encouraging cheer.

We were then treated to “The Future” and “The Choke” from the first album, Feel It Break. Twin backers, Sari and Romy Lightman, reach out towards the crowd making sure we picked up on the vibe they were sending our way. Whenever Katie stepped back to the keyboard, the sisters entertained the crowd with engaging moves that perfectly fit Austra’s musical personality. Drummer Maya Postepski, bassist Dorian Wolf, and keyboardist Ryan Wonsiak held it down in the back with a calm aloofness that just made you want them to be your friends…oh, just me? That’s fine.

Before kicking back in, Katie congratulated the crowd, saying she “heard a rumor you guys got gay marriage,” and welcomed us to the modern age during a minute long ovation. They launched into a string of newer songs before closing the show with a 10 minute dance party featuring a slow building “Lose It” and a bass pounding “Beat And Pulse.” By the time the band finished up the encores, it was hard not to be in love with them and *almost* everyone in the place. After the show this lady was lucky enough to catch Maya and Ryan sneaking around…I may have fangirled a little too hard, but you would too if you had just experienced one of the most energetic and entertaining concerts you’ve seen in awhile, right guys?

For more badass photos, go HERE!

And be sure to check out our review of Olympia HERE!