Nearing the end of his tour with Forest Swords, Tom Krell – a.k.a. How To Dress Well – took the stage on Friday, March 28 at S.A.T., and I was more than excited to be there. I had seen him perform before, so I knew I would not be disappointed.
However, with a new band, and playing mostly new songs, this How To Dress Well show was quite a different experience from my last. I’ll admit, usually when a set is made up of mostly new or unfamiliar material, I get a little disappointed, and sometimes my attention wanders. It’s a bad habit, and I should probably work on it. But there’s just something about Tom Krell’s stage presence that keeps me. It’s partly his voice, which is what made me a fan in the first place, and partly the music (the new band definitely brought a lot to the performance).
I think a huge part of it was the stories that he told between songs. What I love about How To Dress Well shows is the balance between the polished, thought-out music that he performs with such emotion and the funny, engaging, relaxed frontman he is when the music isn’t playing. With a lot of shows, you get one or the other, and that’s cool too. But the combination is fun and unique, and makes How To Dress Well a must-see.
Photos by Farah Doudou. Click on the image to activate the slideshow.
How To Dress Well
