Bandits On The Run Return to the Stage With Massive, Revue Style Show on Thursday Night at Music Hall of Williamsburg
Before the pandemic hit, Brooklyn’s Bandits On The Run were on the precipice of something big. In early 2020, the charming folk-pop outfit made up of Sydney Shepherd, Regina Strayhorn, and Adrian Blake Enscoe were enjoying a steady increase in popularity and notoriety with their biggest gig yet on the horizon, a performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. By this point, we all know how their story ended. The live music industry ceased to exist for all of 2020 and with it came an avalanche of postponed tours and dashed hopes. Defiant and unwavering, the Bandits trudged onward and adapted, shifting to live streaming, providing singing telegrams, and selling unique merch items as a means to connect with their audience. We had the pleasure of hosting them for an incredible live steam/podcast episode back in April of 2020, where they treated us to some lovely banter and an unforgettable live performance.
But this Thursday, the band returns to an actual stage for a massive, revue-style show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. And what would a comeback gig be without some surprises? Eschewing the typical concert format, the trio instead describes this unique spectacle as an “experience replete with massive shenanigans, souped-up versions of some of your favorite Bandits tunes, new originals and covers, and collaborations.” Some stand-out locals will be joining in on the fun, including Brass Queens, Miwa Gemini, Sweet Breads, Christopher & Siena Sears, and the New York Choir Project. Bandits’ cellist and vocalist Sydney Shepherd further characterized it as a “gift to their hometown,” and shared that the band will be playing their own songs throughout the evening, but with other performers joining them at times and vice versa, in a sort of revolving door, collaborative fashion. They also promised a few non-musical surprises that we were sworn to secrecy not to reveal. So, you’ll have to see them with your own eyes on Thursday night!
The group is also adding a fourth Bandit in percussionist Eric Farber for the performance to give their already eclectic sound a little more oomph. Given his unconventional approach, the three developed a natural chemistry with Farber, with his unique toolkit being a huge selling point: “he uses all of these weird toys and he assembled this entire kit made of found objects. He’s like a theatrical drummer. So, it’s such a natural fit.”
The concert follows the release of their excellent new EP, Now Is The Time, this past June. Despite the troubling times we’ve lived through (and continue to live through), this set of songs sounds fresh, uplifting, and positive, a mood that the three attributes to their close bond: “We were living together while writing these songs, and when one of us is feeling down, one of us kind of takes up the mantle to help lift the other person up. It feels like a family band, honestly, which is helpful during those dark times and comes out in the music. We really want to uplift people with our music.”
The band recorded the EP with Ryan Hadlock at Bear Creek Studios in Washington State, initially connecting with him via e-mail in the midst of lockdown. Guitarist Adrian Blake Enscoe recalls Flynn saying “‘if you ever have any free time and want to make a record, let’s do it. ’And of course, at that point, we had a lot of free time.” The trio’s intrinsic connection can definitely be heard and felt through the songs, and based on their experiences recording it, that doesn’t come as much of a surprise. “We were living together and writing a lot. Then we got an old RV and traveled from Nashville to Washington, camping out along the way.” The enchanting “Spellbound” is a definite highlight, as it’s a song that evolved significantly once the band entered the studio. “We felt like the song needed something that's like old world” Shepard shared. ”All of our songs are a bit like sponges for our particular experiences. We were at a friend’s wedding from high school and Adrian found a piano, he started playing, and everyone was dancing and singing. That inspired us to put a piano in ‘Spellbound.’”
Though Thursday night’s performance in Brooklyn is the band’s first and last local show of 2021, they’re continuing to stay quite busy. The trio recently scored the Peter Hedges’ directed film called The Same Storm, which recently premiered at Telluride Film Festival. The film was shot in July of 2020 with all of the actors isolated from their fellow castmates. The Bandits used their own acting backgrounds to their advantage in the process. “We sort of understood the tone of like what each moment was trying to achieve. So, translating that into music was a really interesting process and a challenging one, too, because typically, when we're writing our own stuff, it’s very vocals and lyrics heavy. So, we had to think about how we can take what we do and like lift what they've got going on.”
If you haven’t snagged tickets yet for Thursday night, you can get them via the band’s website. For all things Bandits-related, follow them on Instagram and like them on Facebook. You can also snag some merch and stream their music on your platform of choice!
