I fell in love with Homeshake last Sunday night. You might know the lead singer Peter Sagar for his work with beloved indie songwriter Mac Demarco. In fact, I would say Peter Sagar is largely responsible for the iconic sound we attribute to Mac Demarco, as the echo-y guitar and synth present in all of Mac’s most famous songs is actually the trademark of Sagar.

But that’s beside the point. Regardless of how you feel the two compare, Homeshake’s music is hard to not like. Complete with catchy guitar riffs, groovy bass lines, and tripped-out synth and vocals their tunes put you in a trance. Obviously, I’m not the only one to get into them in the past year, because this year’s turnout was crazy compared to last year’s at the same venue. When I arrived at Rickshaw Stop the line to get in was so long, nobody knew how we were all going to fit (Rickshaw Stop is a pretty small room, after all). However, my friend who attended last year said that when they played before they didn’t even fill the venue.

During my wait I bonded with the strangers in front of and behind me in line, all of whom were incredibly kind. This is particularly shocking, especially when compared with Mac Demarco’s notoriously irritating, self-proclaimed (in The Fader magazine) “art-ish student” fan base. In fact, it’s been a long time since I’ve gone to a concert that had such a friendly, casual feel. Sagar himself was even selling his own merch, kindly talking with their fans like it was no big deal before the show.

However, when Homeshake actually stepped on the stage everything changed. They group exuded a sort of urban class that was undeniably sexy (as pretty much any person in the crowd could tell you, because we were all whispering to each other about it). Taking sips of water from his whisky-on-the-rocks-style glass, Sagar stood behind his synth and growled into his mic “can we get things a little darker up here.” The lights dimmed to almost black, to which he responded “okay, maybe a little lighter” and the lights settled on a green wash. The whole crowd and the rest of the band chuckled. Sagar, however, only responded with a slight smirk. I swooned.

Their set was simple, with little commentary between songs other than Sagar muttering a few sly jokes and thank you's through a voice changer that made him sound like some kind of helium-happy cartoon. Their minimalist style fit the music perfectly. The whole crowd swayed as Homeshake rolled through song after song—an experience that for me felt almost spiritual. In the words of another attendee: “It’s like they’re kicking ass, know it, and don’t even care.” I didn’t think about anything else throughout their whole set—I was too busy staring at the lead singer and basking in their beachy, mellow tunes to be bothered.

Overall the night was filled with great music, great people, and good vibes. Seeing Homeshake live isn’t even comparable to listening to their records—and this is from someone who has been listening to their album “Midnight Snack” on repeat for months. Something about their performance completely fills the room, and their casual composure sets a tone that gave me so much more appreciation for their music outside of the typical doc-martens toting, mom-jeans wearing indie scene. I left completely elated, and will definitely scrabble to get my hands on any tickets to see them again. 

Photo Credit: Funcheap SF