Brandi Price wore a clasp of silver bells around the boot of her right foot, adding celestial sounds and subtle tension to the Diamond Center's set on a snow-projected Thursday night. For much of the show, Price's face was masked behind shoulder length, ink-black hair, whether singing or stepping back to play guitar. When she turned to sing, a single eye pierced the crowd and her voice accomplished much of the same. Price's crystallized, ethereal vocals were hauntingly sweet and crushing. They were contrasted by fellow singer and guitarist Kyle Harris on "Ohio," where he sang in near guttural fashion, "Baby says, the way to my heart is right through the front of my head." Harris's delivery was thunderous, and coupled with Price's background vocals and drumming it felt like an oncoming invasion.

They opened with "WTT" and continued through much of My Only Companion like the dreamy "Bombay Beach" and the Western-tinged and reflective "Forget My Name." The songs were beautifully stark, ominous and angelic as though piped in from the past. The band successfully played a hearty rendition of the album live, bringing to life the ragged and atmospheric aspects of what was originally recorded in a Texas house. They also boasted two stand-up drummers that, in the background, worked up a frenzy. For a set that was relatively tribal, it would have been more portentous if not for kind and casual conversation from Harris and Price.

For the set's closer, Price handed out small instruments to people and invited them onstage to join in performing "The Deer Pistol." It was like a hymnal with war paint, an emotional build-up reaching a high point only to begin again with Harris' jangly repeated guitar riff. It was a fitting ending to a hypnotic set where haze met melody head on.

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Photographer: Brian Tucker