everything you missed at Elie Slater’s debut performance
On Saturday, July 22nd, Elie Slater performed live for the very first time at Ϋomme Studios in Downtown Austin. Here was the line-up for the night:
Straight Stitch: If you never heard Nirvana live, now’s your chance. Lead vocalist/guitarist Sean, Bassist Danny, Drummer Evan, and Guitarist Jacob, channels their sound flawlessly while introducing modern punk into 90’s grunge. They set the tone for the night at 9:30pm. Listen to their music here.
Xoe Haze: A local band consisting of lead vocalist/guitarist Xoe, Bassist Envee, Lead Guitarist Matt, and Drummer Elie, crush their set with a setlist of original music from their new EP, PUMA 44. Listen here.
Elie Slater: The night’s headliner, performed tracks from his debut EP, SKINNY. A deeply personal performance accompanied by his closest friends in a venue full of supporters. You just had to be there. Listen here.
Flirty Ounce: Elie’s long time friend, and co-vocalist on his EP, closed the night off at midnight. Listen to their music here.
Last night, I took over @xoehaze Instagram stories to document highlights of the show. Take a look.
Xoe Haze’s Undeniable Energy
Xoe Haze opened the night with MASSES from their studio EP. As a crowd favorite, naturally the ensemble kept everyone on their feet for the entirety of their set.
“It’s nice when you can feed off the energy from the crowd. It always makes me want to go harder, and I did.” tells lead guitarist, Matt. Yesterday he performed a number of solos, saying his solo in Orchid remains a beloved moment for the guitarist.
I asked lead vocalist Xoe what his thoughts were on tonight's show.
“I'm always anxious performing. It’s this bittersweet feeling. I love the energy, the noise, the bodies. Yet I'm also terrified. Deeply grateful to anyone that comes out. I try to give back as much as possible. Even then I feel like people at our shows deserve so much more.”
See videos of their performance on Xoe Haze’s official Instagram account, @xoehaze.
With last night being Bassist Envee’s only SECOND performance with Xoe Haze, she absolutely killed it. During sound check, her bass broke down. The input jack on her bass completely gave out, but that didn't stop her.
“I felt more confident this time, and I allowed myself to have more fun on stage. I let loose kinda, moved more. It was a sick experience.”
After Straight Stitch’s set, their bassist Danny let Envee use his instrument for the night. I asked for her thoughts on this, considering she is still relatively new to the instrument, you can imagine using someone else’s minutes before your set can be nerve-wracking.
“Adapting to Danny’s bass when mine broke down without ever using it before made me feel more confident too,” she adds, “makes me realize i’m actually picking up the instrument for real now.”
You go girl. Endlessly proud of you.
“SKINNY” Live Featuring Flirty Ounce
Headliner Elie Slater brought us a memorable and heartwarming production. I got the chance to talk to him about his thoughts on it.
“I thought the show was pretty raw, it’s really DIY. It wasn’t what i expected, but… then again i had no expectations.” He adds, “I’m not hard on myself, but I do have high expectations of the shit I put out. So when it’s not met, I wanna do better every time.”
Elie’s sound is authentic and something I like to call “A New Classic”. A sound often imitated but never duplicated. Last night, Slater made history in his artistic career.
The energy was nothing less than high, you could feel the music reverberating throughout. We danced with strangers, drank too much, but nonetheless, every performer gave us a night to remember.
Elie Slater’s Performance with Envee
In a tear jerking & long awaited performance by Slater & Envee, they held the crowd in the palm of their hands. Watching them perform looked deeply intimate, except they were in a room full of people. You could just tell they were meant to be there together.
“That was so fuckin cool.” Elie notes. “The morning after I felt a big wave of gratitude. I was lost in the moment, I was really locked in. It felt like it was just us in the room.”
Meanwhile, I full on cried during this set. The duo shared an embrace after the show. You don’t get to see real love like this often, and I think the performance in general opened a lot of people up to the very real connection these two share.
