Images: Hotel Books, Hearts Like Lions, Foreign Sons and more July 8, 2016 at Eagle Hall

I found myself back at the Eagle Aerie Hall last week to catch Hotel Books return to Vegas with Hearts Like Lions and a slew of locals. Or maybe I should say “return to Henderson,” as the all-ages spot is located outside the city limits.

A later than usual shift and the dreaded rush hour traffic (basically, anytime between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. in this town) meant I missed first band West Wind Knock Out. I made my way into the venue partway through second band The Undefined. The 2 piece acoustic band is a newcomer to the Vegas scene, having only recently met through Craigslist. The highlight of their set was the frontwoman’s voice, which was soft, beautiful, and somewhat reminiscent of Amy Winehouse.

The next two locals are recent tourmates, Groomlake and Twin Cities. Groomlake have a cool, methodical feel to their music. They’re not afraid to have long, hypnotic stretches of instrumentals, and their talent just makes it work. Meanwhile, Twin Cities, one of favorite locals, played a chill emo/indie blend that left the crowd speechless. Frontman Macario Gutierrez has the best voice in town, (it especially shines on “Youngstown”) and the whole band was really using the space and getting into the performance.

The last local of the night was Foreign Sons, a four piece rock band that features three brothers. The family connection lead to great chemistry between the members, who cracked jokes between songs as the venue finally started to feel full in anticipation of the touring acts.

The first of the touring bands was Hearts Like Lions, a Christian indie rock band signed to Tooth & Nail. This was my first time hearing the band and they were great, a feeling the crowd seemed to agree on as the floor began shaking from people jumping around. They were a particularly fun band to shoot, largely because they just looked like they were having a blast the entire time. The bassist in particular seemed to be enjoying himself, losing his hat at one point while lost in a combination of playing and dancing.

With the crowd suitably warmed up, it was finally time for Hotel Books to take the stage. I was turned onto the band after catching their singer, Cam Smith, perform an intimate acoustic show at The Warehouse a few months back. He was such a warm performer, telling stories and interacting with the small crowd, so I was curious to see what it would be like to see him full band and with more people in attendance. Full band, Hotel Books has kind of a La Dispute meets At the Drive In feel, with a sing/talky style of vocals and music that evokes emotions from sad, happy, mad, etc. The lyrics really bring everything together, and we fans hung on every word Smith sang.

-Margaret Schmitt | http://margaretschmitt.wix.com/margaretschmitt