The Antlers took over Iowa City’s Blue Moose Tap House to perform on the 31st of March as a part of the Mission Creek Festival. Not currently on tour, the band made it all the way to Iowa City for a special performance and managed to give a hauntingly powerful show.

Opening bands Emperor’s Club and Tires set the mood just right – not too raucous, not too quiet.

The Antlers started the show with single “Parentheses” taken from Burst Apart, their 2011 album which was featured heavily on many Top Albums of 2011 lists written by music bloggers/enthusiasts/aficionados everywhere. A sense of connection was in the air and although the music was sad, the crowd swayed and sang along to the lyrics, lapping up all melancholy hues in good spirits.

Peter Siberman’s Jeff Buckley-esque haunting vocals and high falsettos were on key and moving in a way that was almost animal in nature. Somewhat disappointingly to some fans of the band, The Antlers performed only few numbers from their critically-acclaimed and masterpiece of a debut album, Hospice.  The only reasoning that comes to mind for this would be perhaps due to Hospice being such a raw and personally-moving album that should not be overplayed for fear of losing its sentimentality. Furthermore, just how true-to-life Hospice is has always been hush-hush as Peter Siberman has maintained reticence in the legitimacy of the story portrayed in the album. Although most songs were performed from ‘Burst Apart’, the show remained a powerful one with standout song performances including “Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out”, “No Widows”, and, of course, the phenomenal “Putting the Dog to Sleep”.

On a special note, it was also Peter Siberman’s birthday on that day. The curly-haired frontman was presented with a strawberry cake onstage followed by the crowd singing “Happy Birthday” to him.

The show was most definitely a cathartic one – not just for the band, but also for the crowd. All in all, it was a beautiful experience to remember.

Want more?

• Check out KRUI’s interview with The Antlers at the KRUI Mission Creek Lounge in Public Space One.

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Iowa City’s Mission Creek Festival Adds The Antlers, Poison Control Center, The Daredevil Christopher Wright, Death Ships, Emperors Club, and More to Lineup

Featuring: The Magnetic Fields, David Cross, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, The Antlers, William Elliott Whitmore, Justin Townes Earle, Tim Hecker, Black Milk, Sharon Van Etten, Bowerbirds, and many more.

The seventh annual Mission Creek Festival returns March 27-April 1, 2012. The six-day celebration takes over the venues and art spaces in downtown Iowa City, creating an easily navigated collection of music, literature, and art.

SCOPE Productions and Mission Creek Festival are pleased to announce that The Antlers will headline the Mission Creek Festival at Blue Moose Tap House on March 31st, 2012.

With an indie rock sound that explores depth of emotion through lyrically sound tracks, The Antlers are an indie rock band based out of Brooklyn, New York that are sure to be a haunting, intimate addition to the Mission Creek lineup.

Combining elaborate musicianship and emotionally complex content, the band’s 2009 album Hospice, a highly conceptual album about a hospice worker who falls in love with a dying patient, earned the band critical acclaim as well as a cult-following of sorts.

The Antlers’ fourth studio album Burst Apart was released in 2011 and exemplifies qualities of electronic music without depriving the listener of any emotional depth. Imbued with seductive guitars, taut rhythms, and hypnotic melodies, Burst Apart is simultaneously introspective and animated.

Both Burst Apart and Hospice have been named “Best New Music” by the popular music blog, Pitchfork.

Tickets will be available for purchase at 10am on Friday, February 9th at the University of Iowa Box Office, located in the IMU, where students can UBill tickets, all other Ticketmaster locations, and at Blue Moose Taphouse.

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