This past Thursday, The Paper Kites, an indie-folk-rock quintet hailing from Melbourne, Australia, made their DC debut, performing at U Street Music Hall. The band is on their second North American tour of 2016, this time hitting many of the big cities on the east coast of the US and Canada. The band released their latest album, twelvefour, just over a year ago, and has been touring since, with a few breathers in between.
The band, which has risen in popularity in the US in recent years, managed to almost fill the entirety of U Street Music Hall with eager and awaiting fans. The band delivered its lulling and sweet tunes to a delighted audience, playing with confidence and comfort in the intimate venue. Vocalist Sam Bentley kept the audience laughing in between songs with an impressive array of dry humor and fun anecdotes.
One of the most intimate moments of the show came when most of the lights were cut, and the band performed an unplugged version of their hit song “Bloom,” which has racked up an impressive 60 million hits on Spotify, and almost 15 million on YouTube. After closing their set out, the band performed an impressive two song a capella encore, a zen and minimalist ending to a peaceful performance.